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THE 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



/ 



FANNY L. ARMSTRONG. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 



BY 
FRANCES E. WILLARD, 

PRESIDENT NATIONAL WOMAN 's CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION. 




NEW YORK: 
FOWLER & WELLS CO., PUBLISHERS, 

No. 753 Broadway. 






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COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY 
FOWLER & WELLS CO 



/Z-^od^ 



I 



i 



DEDICATED 



TO THE 



^ Little Children of the Church of God, 

WITH THE 

HOPE. AND THE PRAYER 

THAT THEY WILL FORM THE ACQUAINTANCE, CULTIVATE 
THE SOCIETY, AND IMITATE THE EXAMPLES, 

OF 

THE CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



INTEODUCTION, 



BY FRANCES E. WILLARD, 

President of the National W. 0. T. XT, 



FOUR years ago I went Soutli for the first time, 
meeting' in the rare old city of New Orleans, 
the author of this little book, who is a native of 
Louisiana. Her bright mind, warm heart, and con- 
fiding manners won my sincere interest and sympa- 
thy. She was literally ' ' alone in the world, " except 
for the atmosphere of Christian kindness and good- 
•wdll that must ever surround an earnest and genuine 
young woman in the Church of Christ. The dear- 
est wish of my Southern friend was to visit Chau- 
tauqua, that grand "People's University," which 
annually attracts one hundred thousand visitors. 
Miss Armstrong was a student of the " C. L. S. C," 
and as I had long known Dr. Vincent, and honored 
him for his generous heart, no less than his great 
work, I wrote him of my little Southron, whom 
he made welcome to a summer home in that beauti- 
ful resort. Since then she has lived at the North ; 
is a newspaper correspondent and stenographer, 
whose brave efforts for seK-help have deeply enlisted 
my sympathies. Her long attendance in Sunday- 
school as scholar and teacher have given our author 

(1) 



2 INTRODIJCTION. 

great familiarity with Bible truth, and it was a win- 
some thought of hers to picture in simple phrase 
the stories of children with which its sacred page 
abounds. More than thirty distinct characters are 
traced in this little book, all yielding helpful les- 
sons in the patient formation of true character. 

Thus much for the author, her work, and my ac- 
quaintance with both, the recital being made because 
I think a book gains interest from our knowledge of 
the writer. 

Beyond all others, this is The Children's Age, and 
every word written or act done in their interest is a 
force set in motion for all mankind. For Childhood 
is the fortress of Humanity posted away out on the 
frontier of time, and if we furnish weapons, ammu- 
nition, and military drill, children will ' ^ hold the 
fort" when the veterans grow weary. As one of 
our gifted W. C. T. U. workers has said: *'The 
door of millennial glory has a child's hand on the 
latch." By as much as formation is better than ref- 
ormation, and prevention than cure, by so much 
are we bound to study ^' the Child in the midst " as 
the most impressive object-lesson of the ages. It is 

"Another little wave 
Upon the sea of life ; 
Another soul to save, 
Amid its toil and strife. 

"Two more little hands 
To work for good or ill ; 
A little untaught brain, 
A little untrained will. 



INTEODUCTIOK. 3 

" Two more little feet 

To walk the dusty road 
And choose where two paths meet 
The narrow or the broad ! " 

Beyond all other questions of our complex mod- 
ern life is this : 

How are we helping children to choose f 

There is a Decalogue of Natural Law '* written 
in their members." There is a Ritual of this body 
which is the Temple of the Holy G-host. The Bible 
says : 

* ^Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; whatsoever 
a man soweth, that shall he also reap.^'' 

Alas for the little untaught sowers, among Ameri- 
ca's ten million children ! I know a fair, sweet girl 
who gathers thirty boys in her Sunday-school class 
each week, and they have a '' Golden Text" that 
lasts the year around, recited always in concert at 
the opening of the lesson : 

'^ Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the 
Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of 
God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought 
with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body 
and spirit, which are God's." 

The teacher or the parent who steadfastly shows 
forth these principles in word and deed, is Heaven's 
true evangel to the little ones under her care. Purity 
in the personal conduct of life, a /'Thus saith Na- 
ture, and thus saith the Lord" for total abstinence 
from intoxicating liquors, tobacco, and unhealthful 
food — ^these will put the basis of worship where it 



4 INTEODUCTION. 

belongs, ^dz. : in this wonderful * * House we live 
in," which, while its skylight opens toward God's 
infinite Heaven, has its foundation firmly fixed upon 
the earth. Ascetic ages affected to despise the body, 
and hence could but degrade the soul. Christ 
came to regenerate not the spirit only, but the casket 
which contains it, and a little child of pure ancestry 
and religious physical training will be so gently 
and sweetly led into the sacredness of spiritual dis- 
cipleship toward Christ, that no violent convulsion 
of soul shall be considered needful to certify that 
supreme epoch in its history. I am glad that the 
enlightened publishers of this little book have 
worked so faithfully and long to bring a wandering 
race back to the plane of physical sanity, and I f er- 
^^ently pray that every mother who reads these 
friendly lines may determine to emulate in the diet, 
dress, and habits of her little ones the blessed sim- 
plicity that characterized the e very-day lives of the 

CHILDREN OF THE BiBLE. 

Rest Cottage, Evanstou, 111., 
August, 1884. 



PEEFAOE. 



aOODNESS is a part of God, therefore eternal. These 
children are not dust and ashes, because their bodies 
have slept for ages in the tomb. They are immortal souls, 
with spiritual bodies, like the glorified one of our Saviour. 
They are now in a state of keenly conscious happiness or 
misery — in a iplace substantial and durable, and radiant 
with the glory of God. They have each, in his or her 
place, left ^^foot-prints on the sands of time," that the 
waves of eternity will make only more enduring. Each 
is still exerting an unseen but all the more felt influence 
on our lives and characters. Where is our Decalogue 
without the sleeping infant in the bulrushes? With the 
sword of Herod take the baby -life that began a human 
career in the lowly stable at Bethlehem, and where are 
we? Where would be the finest portion of the Psalms 
liad Goliath conquered the boy - champion ? God raised 
up Joseph, and directed events in his life, causing the 
wrath of men to praise him, that his people might live, 
and renewed luster be cast on his holy name. Baby Joash 
barely escaped death to be crowned king of a mighty na- 
tion. 

(5) 



6 PREFACE. 

These children, though their names form a large por 
tion of our Bible, were all sinners, save one. Their obitu- 
aries may be written thus: They lived, suffered, sinned, 
and died. One became so pure, and held such sweet inter- 
course with God, that one day he went on the top of a 
mountain to converse with him — and the grand old con- 
versation may be still going on for aught I know. The 
little boys saved by Elijah and Elisha have left no de- 
scription of the scenery on the other shore. The daughter 
of Jairus left us no hint as to the wanderings of her pure 
spirit between her death and the blessed "Talitha cumi" 
of Jesus. One of these children lived to man's estate, then 
laid down his life, a ransom for many. His death possessed 
so much virtue that it brings life to aU who will accept it. 
There was no power that could have taken this precious 
life, but he laid it doivn — poured out his blood on a cross 
for us. 

By and by, when the last smile has faded from the last 
human face, and the last tear has been shed, and we all 
meet at the judgment-seat of Christ, if in that day I can 
hear one tongue say, "I was converted and brought to 
Christ through the influence of a little book I once read, 
called * Children of the Bible,'" then shall I feel repaid a 
thousand-fold for all the trouble, time, and expense, I have 
had in the preparation of this volume. It was not written 
to instruct grown people, neither to please merely, but for the 
spiritual good of the children. If they are made better men 



PREFACE. 7 

and women by it, then I am well i)aiJ. If this book ha? 
the truth in it, and is really God's work, it will live and 
a(;complish "that whereunto it is sent." A good book, 
like a good life, cannot die. Go, then, "Children of the 
Bible," and help, by your influence, those I have taught 
to be "world-betterersJ^ You did not cease to live when 
you were laid in the tomb — you still live on the pages of 
history, and, all unseen, you still assist us to make better 
characters for eternity. Your works do follow you, and 
by and by hundreds and thousands will join you in singing 
the hymns of redemption. 

That these stories, so imperfectly narrated, may be the 
means of doing great good, is the prayer of one who loves 
both the children of the Bible and the children ol ^he 
nineteenth century. 



OOI^TEE"TS. 



PAGB 

ISHMA EL 11 

ISAAC 25 

ESAU AND JACOB 38 

JOSEPH. 47 

MIRIAM. 58 

MOSES. 67 

NAMELESS 82 

SAMUEL 87 

DAVID 95 

AN OBEDIENT BOY. 106 

ONLY A BABY 112 

A BABY'S NARROW ESCAPE 118 

ME-PHIB'O-SHETH 122 

ABIJAH 129 

THE WIDOW'S SON. 133 

IRREVERENCE PUNISHED 143 

THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON. 147 

THE LITTLE TUG-BOAT. 153 

(9) 



10 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

JOASH 100 

UZZIAH, THE LEPER 166 

JOSIAH 170 

DANIEL 178 

THE INFANT JESUS 189 

THE CHILD JESUS. 198 

THE BOY JESUS, 205 

THE DA UGHTEB OF J AIR US JA2 

THE LUNATIC CHILD HEALED 219 

A CO-WORKER WITH JESUS, 226 

AN OBJECT-LESSON,., 235 

LITTLE CHILDREN 243 

RHODA 251 

TIMOTHY, 257 

GLOSSAKY 268 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



ISHMAEL 



"Thou God seest me." Gen. xvi. 13. 

SAKAI, the wife of Abram, was ninety years 
old, and had no children — ^this was a source 
of grief to her. She had an Egyptian servant 
named Hagar. God promised Abram a son, so 
Sarai persuaded him to take Hagar for a wife. 
At this time they were residing in the land of 
Canaan. Being the wife of her former master, 
Hagar, who possessed a low order of mind, became 
insolent and overbearing to her mistress. 

Two women cannot be complete mistresses of 
one house at one time, neither can they hold un- 
disputed sway over the heart of one man. He 
may love a thousand women — indeed, if he is a 
true man, all good women will find a place in his 
esteem, but only one is his wife in the eyes of God. 
A man's heart is a dominion over which only one 
woman can reign supreme. God has a heart large 
enough to hold unnumbered millions of worlds, 

(11) 



12 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

but I have never heard of but one " Bride of the 
Lamb/' the Church of the living God. 

Sarai being the true wife of Abram, he took her 
part in all family quarrels : at last, with his con- 
sent, she gave Hagar a beating — that is, "dealt 
hardly with her ; " and Hagar, feeling that " discre- 
tion is the better part of valor," ran away. Go- 
ing out into the wilderness, on her way to Egypt, 
she wandered about a long time ; at length, feeling 
fatigued, she sat down by a fountain. 

With her face buried in her hands, she sobbed 
bitterly. Poor Hagar! so friendless, so hopeless, 
as she sits and sobs out her sorrows to the winds, is 
a type of her sex. All have felt as she did. The 
rich and poor, the high and low, the ignorant and 
the learned — all have their Gethsemanes in this 
life, where alone they weep bitter, bitter tears ; but 
that blessed angel who came to Jesus is still on the 
wing — young, bright, beautiful — and as swift to 
execute the high behests of Heaven as when, in his 
youth, he flew, on the wings of sympathy and love, 
to comfort the almost expiring God-m.an, in the 
lonely solitudes and darkness of Gethsemane. 

While alone in this unhappy condition, exposed 
to ten thousand dangers, yet caring for nothing but 
the desolation of soul within, an angel, for the first 
time, appears on the stage of action, as comforter, 
friend, and adviser. This angelic messenger did 



ISHMAEL. 13 

not come clad in the transfiguration glories of 
lieaveu, because Hagar would have been fright- 
ened. 

Angel means messenger ; and therefore friends, 
loving words, kindly smiles, any thing that acts 
as an incentive to better living, is an angel to 
us. God not only gave his only-begotten Son to 
die for us, but, with every passing breeze, thou- 
sands of unseen angels, to guide and assist us in 
preparing and educating ourselves to live forever 
in his presence; and as unseen good attracts the 
good in us, so does our belief in, and love for, 
these invisible heavenly visitants increase as our 
aspirations tend heavenward. 

What matters it to us that our gross material 
eyes fail to see them? Why should we wish to 
hear the flutter of their wings, when God has, for 
wise reasons, ordained otherwise? We believe in 
the existence of the gases, of electricity, of the 
steam that propels our floating palaces on our riv- 
ers. We believe in a thousand unseen things. 
Why should the belief in angels seem so absurd? 

The angel said: "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, 
whence comest thou? and whither wilt thou go? 
And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress 
Sarai." The angel said : "Return to thy mistress, 
and submit thyself to her hands." Having given 
this judicious advice, he makes a promise: "I will 



14 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be 
numbered for multitude. Thou shalt bare a son, 
and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord 
hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild 
man; his hand will be against every man, and 
every man's hand against him." 

Because Hagar acted cowardly in running away, 
and because she was insolent and overbearing, God 
embodies those qualities in the coming son. With 
the ill-fated Ishmael all can sympathize, as we^ are 
all sufferers from the iniquities of our parents gen- 
erations back. Hagar, out of a grateful heart, 
called the place where God met her, " Thou God 
seest me." Children, is it an agreeable thought 
that God is always looking down into your hearts? 
If you were to see him enter the room this moment, 
would you run to him or from him? Hagar re- 
turned, and was very good until several years after 
the birth of little Ishmael. 

Abram and Sarai thought he was the "promised 
son." They were anxiously looking for the Re- 
deemer ; and as Eve looked into the calm depths of 
the brown eyes of little Cain, the world's first baby, 
in joyful anticipation, saying, "I have gotten a 
man from the Lord," so did Hagar gaze into the 
dark depths of little Ishmael's with the same 
bright, mysterious hope. All the mothers, from 
P^^-e to Hagar, had been disappointed. Abram, 



ISHMAEL. 15 

who had been blessed with a clearer, more decided 
promise than his predecessors, was sure that in 
Ishmael he saw the world's Redeemer. 

Many nights, beside that hallowed tent-door, 
with the silver moonlight falling like a mantle of 
God's love aroTind them, they wove bright fancies 
concerning the future. They knew they were sin- 
ners, and, in order to be redeemed, hlood must he 
shed, yea, the blood of the Son of God. They 
knew that God must become man; and how did 
they know but little Ishmael was the promised 
one? 

God, seeing Abram's thoughts, told him that he 
was mistaken — Ishmael was not the promised seed, 
but Sarai, his wife, should be the mother of the 
child. He then named the little one, and prom- 
ised to make of Ishmael a great nation; but in 
"Isaac shall thy seed be called." At this time 
God changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Sa- 
rai's to Sarah — a father and a mother of many 
nations would he make of them. He also gave at 
tliis time the ordinance of circumcision, which 
command Abraham obeyed that very day, per- 
forming the rite on his son. 

Ishmael was now thirteen years old. A few 
months after this Isaac was born. Time flew swift- 
ly, as it always does with happy or busy people, 
and soon little Isaac was old enough to be weaned. 



16 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Abraham, who seemed to be growing younger, 
made a great feast, and invited all his friends. 
The old couple were so happy ! the baby, perhaps, 
rather indifferent. While the joy was at its height, 
Sarah accidentally saw Ishmael mocking and ridi- 
culing; perhaps from envy or jealousy, it may be, 
he was instigated by his mother. Then Sarah's 
jealousy and anger arose, and she said to her hus- 
band, " Cast out this bondwoman and her son ; he 
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.'' 

Abraham was greatly distressed at these family 
dissensions, and did all he could to keep the peace ; 
but it is hard to manage one woman sometimes, and 
to argue with a jealous one is about as sensible as 
to quote Shakespeare to a crevasse in the Mississippi 
Eiver. Sarah would listen to nothing but posi- 
tive separation from the despised Hagar. Umph ! 
Abraham "a father of many nations," when he 
cannot control two women! Poor man! Again 
he flies to God, his never-failing resort in time of 
trouble. God again repeats his promise, but com- 
manded him to take Sarah's advice, and send them 
Rway. 

God will not bless a household where every mem- 
ber is head, all making laws by which no one is 
governed. "Order is Heaven's first law" — God, 
in his eternal triunity — the Head governing all 
things, all the heavenly hosts, each doing his or 



ISHMAEL. 17 

her duty in perfect harmony. Every v^ave of the 
ocean, every leaf of the forest, every star in heaven, 
has its place, and makes no war on the others. 
Man, sinful man, is the only discordant element in 
the universe. Sin cut the centripetal force of his 
nature — ^the line which bound him to the Father's 
heart — ^when Adam fell, and now he is off in a tan- 
gent from his home and his God. Jesus alone, on 
Calvary, caught the ends, tied them together, ce- 
mented them with his blood, and again started him 
on his long-forgotten orbit around his Maker. 

Nothing is more displeasing to God than family 
quarrels. The next morning, by daylight, Abra- 
ham arose, gave Hagar a bottle of water and some 
bread, placing them on her shoulder himself; then 
embracing his eldest son, whom he still loved, sent 
them away, God only knew where. With his 
strong, granite-like faith, without a moment's hesi- 
tation, he threw them on the word of the everlast- 
ing God. This act of Abraham's was inevitable, 
under the circumstances, but he exhibited in it the 
selfishness that is inherent in our fallen human 
natures. 

Had Sarah and Isaac been the ones sent off, 
he would have had a month's provisions laid up 
for them ; he would have sent them away with a 
great caravan, camels, flocks, herds, servants. He 
ought to have made them all behave themselves. 
2 



18 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

There was in this primitive family, as in all of the 
present day, the elements of much earthly felicity. 
God wants his children to be happy ; it is our duty 
to be so. It is a sin to go through the world with 
our heads hanging down, and our hearts full of 
woes of our own making mostly, when we have a 
Burden-bearer, a great Reservoir in which to cast 
all our cares — when there are thousands to be fed, 
clothed, comforted, and led to the fountain of in- 
effable joy. 

Children, when you get Jesus in your hearts by 
faith, you have all that earth and heaven can give. 
Then, be happy. When will men learn to control 
their families as they ought? When will servants 
quit sneering at their superiors, and women cease 
to get "jealous over trifles light as air?" Again 
Hagar finds herself a homeless wanderer — ^this time 
with a little child for comfort. But, alas! that 
was a very agonizing joy. Not much pleasure in 
watching the sufferings of a perishing only child. 
The bread and the water were now exhausted — ^no 
Quts or berries near. What could they do? 

When earth is all dark — as it must be to every 
one of us sometimes — when men are treacherous, 
health gone, all a blank. Heaven is still above. 
God still sits on his sapphire throne in calm seren- 
ity, holding the ribbons of the universe, and out 
of the chaos of every life, however humble^ wiU 



ISHMAEL. 19 

bring order and beauty, if we trust him. The hand 
of love, guided by wisdom, will take fragments of 
broken glass, arrange them according to certain 
laws, and behold we have the kaleidoscope to glad- 
den the eye, and delight the hearts of the little 
ones. Our lives are broken, fragmentary, scat- 
tered — here our good and evil are strangely min- 
gled. But a Hand will gather these broken frag- 
ments of good, and the memory of this life will 
become the kaleidoscope of the future. St. John 
was looking through it, in the light of heaven, and 
we liave — ^the Apocalypse. 

My dear children, without a living Christ in 
your hearts, you have dead souls. Better be in 
your coffins than in the world with dead spiritual- 
ities. How could Hagar be so desolate, and think 
her child would perish, when God says distinctly, 
I will make of him a great nation? How strange 
in her ! we say. Well, there is one thing stranger 
still, and it is this : We, in the full blaze of this 
gospel-lighted century, sometimes feel as if we 
would never get through the world, and in the end 
we may miss heaven. 

Have we accepted the conditions ? complied with 
the terms? and do we claim the promises? Then 
there is not power enough in all God's vast crea- 
tion to snatch us from the hands of Jesus. Hagar 
had supported the tottering footsteps of the boy as 



20 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

long as she could, and now was so exhausted that 
she found it impossible to take another step; so, 
gathering up her feeble energies in desperation, 
she cast him under one of the shrubs to die. Chil- 
dren, have you ever felt that all was lost? that you 
were in a desert with no water or food to satisfy 
your hunger and thirst? 

I tell you, in the name of my Master, that there 
is a well at your f^et; not an empty one, but a 
perennial fountain, even the inexhaustible waters 
of life. Do you believe it? If not, I still insist 
that it is there, though you shall not taste of it. 
Look above you : on those green branches on the 
tree of life is a cup called faith; the precious 
promises have been hung there. Now drink to 
your entire satisfaction from the wells of salvation. 

Unbelieving Hagar! Don't you know that he 
cannot die? Don't you know that a dagger run 
through his heart would not kill him? That child 
might lie there twenty years, and never starve. 
There is no power on earth or in heaven that can 
touch the life of that helpless boy. Did not Abra- 
ham, a few years afterward, try to kill Isaac, and 
God's angel interposed and saved him? "I will 
make of him a great nation,'' therefore every in- 
strumentality brought against his life shall be 
harmless until the great nation is made. Then the 
weap)ns of death may be of service- 



ISHMAEL. 2} 

O Christian! Jesus, the coeternal Son, has said 
• Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
the world." Are we his children? Then all the 
implements ever forged for man's destruction will 
strike this polished shield of truth, and fall harm- 
less at our feet. Hagar, having thrown the child, 
and ivUh him her faith in God, down to die, dragged 
her weary body some distance out of sight, and sat 
down and wept, O so bitterly ! Sisters out in the 
wilderness of sin, chasing the glittering pleasures 
of worldliness, is not this your case? Do you not 
sometimes weep bitterly because you have thrown 
away your faith in God? 

Alone in the world ! To be an only child is a 
sad lot in life ; to be an orphan is worse ; but the 
desolation of homelessness is the saddest feeling 
the heart can experience. The saddest words on 
the pages of sacred history are these : " The foxes 
have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the 
Son of man hath not where to lay his head." 
Born in a stable not his own, spending so many 
hours in dreary solitude on the mountain-tops of a 
world belonging to the wicked one, finally dying 
and lying in some one else's tomb in death — all that 
we might inherit a mansion eternal in the heavens. 

While little Ishmael lies there crying and trying 
to pray, his mother, lying down to die, just out of 
sight, hears a voice out of heaven, and recognizes 



22 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

it as that of the angel who comforted her on a 
similar occasion, about fourteen years before. Ke 
said, in surprise, in her greatest extremity, " What 
aileth thee, Hagar ? fear not ; for God hath heard 
the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up 
the lad, and hold him in thine hand.'' Then again 
he repeats the promise. 

Now " God opened her eyes, and she saw a well 
of water ; and she went and filled the bottle with 
water ; " and the lad drank, in answer to his faiths 
not his mother's; hers ivas gone when she cast him 
down to die, O what beautiful lessons cluster 
around this little incident in the lives of these 
sorely tried ones! 

When we make an alum-basket, we make the 
foundation of wire, then set it in a bucket of 
strong alum-water to remain all night. The little 
crystals of alum, by a law of attraction peculiar 
to themselves, settle on the wire, in the form of 
octagons, every one perfectly formed. Nature al- 
ways turns out perfect work. So it is with every 
fact of Bible history. Each incident is a solid 
wire-work of truth, around which crystallize many 
beautiful thoughts, all glittering and sparkling in 
the rays falling from the Sun of righteousness. 

Hagar, like so many of us, was mourning over 
her perishing condition, while a well of pure water 
was at her feet. She did not see it till she looked 



ISHMAEL. 23 

up. Children, always look up. Every thing good, 
pure, and holy, is up beyond the clouds and gloom 
of doubts and fears engendered by a want of 
faith. Fire is purer than air, hence its flames go 
upward ; smoke, the gases, the holy aspirations of 
the soul, the spirit departing from the body, Jesus 
at the ascension — all went Godward — that is, away 
from earth. Then let us always look up. 

"And God was with the lad ; and he grew, and 
dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer." 

I know not if Abraham ever saw his son after 
this cruel separation — ^perhaps not. God verified 
his promise to Hagar in making of him a great na- 
tion. He told Abraham, before his birth, that he 
should be the father of twelve princes. The fierce 
Bedouin, and the waning but still glowing splen- 
dors of Mohammedan power, attest that the prom- 
ises of Jehovah are steadfast ; and to this day the 
lawless, wandering tribes of Bedouins and bush- 
men of Arabia are a living, fighting attestation of 
the way Jehovah keeps his word. "Heaven and 
earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass 
away.'' Their hand is still against every man, and 
every man's hand against them. 

The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Gala- 
tians, speaks of Sarah and Hagar, comparing the 
descendants of the former to the children of the 
kingdom, and those of the latter to the children 



24 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

of the world. As Islimael, the son after the fle^, 
persecuted Isaac, the son of promise, so do the 
children of the flesh still persecute the children 
born after the Spirit. As Ishmael was driven out 
because he ridiculed Isaac, so will God drive into 
outer darkness the sons of bondage because they 
ridicule and scorn his spiritual, blood-washed chil- 
dren of adoption. 

In our own hearts and lives we have our Ishraael 
and Isaac. If we obey the voice of the flesh, and 
live for the seen and perishing, we have not sent 
our Ishmael into the wilderness to perish. If, on 
the other hand, we care most for our spiritual and 
eternal interests, and are living holy lives, "hid 
with Christ in God," then Isaac rules our hearts, 
and we are safe. Live for heaven. Take Jesus, 
and we are safe for time and eternity. 



ISAAC. 



" Oliildren, obey your parents/' Epli. vi. 1. " Honor 
thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long 
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee/* 
Ex. XX. 12. 

AS children of our Heavenly Father, our obe- 
dience, like Abraham's, must be perfect — 
that is, prompt, uncomplaining, proceeding from 
trustful love. Our submission must be like Isaac's 
— ^unresisting, springing from perfect faith in a 
father's love. 

Isaac signifies laughter. Abraham laughed for 
joy when God promised him a son. Sarah laughed 
because she thought it impossible. Isaac was per- 
haps thirteen years of age when the following inci- 
dent in his life took place — the only thing we know 
of his childhood, save that when he was weaned, 
his parents made a great feast. At this feast Ish- 
mael mocked and ridiculed the proceedings, and 
was sent away in consequence of it. How early 
in life that most powerful, invisible thing, called 
influence, begins ! 

When Ishmael, the son of Sarah's handmaid, 
was born, Abraham supposed that he was the prom- 

(25) 



26 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

ised son. Not so. Ten, twelve, thirteen years 
passed away, still "Abraham's faith staggered not." 
Finally the little, incredulous joy came. He grew 
in strength and beauty, the petted and beloved of 
all. The old man loved his God more and more 
every day. The little boy was taught to love and 
trust his Maker, by precept often repeated, backed 
by a powerful example. 

How happy this little household band must have 
been! But, alas! like a clap of thunder from a 
clear sky came the startling command to Abra- 
ham to slay his Isaac with his own hand, "Abra- 
ham!" Promptly came the reply, "Behold, here 
I am." "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of 
Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering 
upon one of the mountains I will tell thee of." 
Abraham might have argued that, leaving his love 
entirely out of the question, to kill his son would 
be a sin ; besides, his mother would certainly die 
of grief, thus making a double murder. 

He might have said, " God has promised to bless 
all the nations of the earth through him. I am 
rich, have hundreds of sheep, and cattle in abun- 
dance. I will offer up a lamb without blemish. I 
am mistaken. God does not mean for me to offer 
up my Isaac." Most of us would have found soyne 
way out of so painful a dilemma. 



ISAAC. 27 

Not "a word of reasoning from Abraham. In- 
stantly, without informing the little one where he 
was going — -for in those days jpeople did not consult 
their children in regard to their duty — ^Abraham 
saddled his ass, took two of his young men, and 
Isaac, went out, cut the wood, and went into the 
mountains. O the sad heart of that aged father 
as, with tottering limbs and head covered with 
grave-blossoms, he winds his way over the hills 
and valleys of the Holy Land ! 

Here was Isaac, in whom all the nations of the 
earth were to be blessed, actually going upon the 
mountain-top to be killed by his father ! What is 
to become of the promise? How is it to be ful- 
filled? Surely something is wrong. All right so 
far, friend Abraham. But what does God mean? 
In vain such questions rise up in the mind of the 
"friend of God.'' But the command is clear, dis- 
tinct, and decided, and he dares not even think of 
disobeying. 

Holy Spirit, drive the beautiful, unquestioning 
faith of Abraham from my heart, while I try to 
show forth the meek submission of Isaac. The 
little boy trudged along by the side of his aged 
father, laughing and talking, plucking flowers, in 
happy ignorance of his approaching doom. Short, 
tender, and sad, must have been the answers to his 
numerous questions. 



28 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

I sometimes wish that Moses had given lis some 
of the conversation between Abraham and Isaac 
during that never-to-be-forgotten journey. After 
traveling three days, they arrived at the appointed 
place, and Abraham said to the two men, "Abide 
ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go 
yonder and worship, and come again to you/' 
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offer- 
ing, and laid it upon Isaac his son/' Even so did 
the sin of the world rest upon the human shoul- 
ders of Christ, and cheerfully he bore it, " despising 
the shame." 

"And he took the fire in his hand, and a knife ; 
and they went both of them together." According 
to the sacred narrative, there is no word of com- 
plaint from the gentle boy, and thus far he had 
displayed no curiosity. Father and I are going to 
worship our God, and do not want the prying eyes 
of our servants on us; therefore we left them. 
Father says I must carry the wood to burn the 
offering; he is old and feeble — I am young and 
strong. He has taught me to love and honor him. 
In other words, father did it, and it is right. 

Coming to this conclusion, he looked up in 
surprise, and said, "My father." O how tender! 
Steel thy heart, old man — take a stronger hold on 
God — or thy faith will fail thee, as these words of 
ineffable tenderness fall from the innocent lips of 



ISAAC. 29 

the child. His father said, "Here am I, my son/* 
And he said, " Behold the fire and the wood, but 
where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" O the 
beautiful innocence and ignorance of childhood! 
How often do they make our hearts ache! and we 
must force back the tears, smile, and answer, indi- 
rectly, their close questioning. 

Dear children, flowers of earth! how could we 
live without them? There was deep meaning in 
the touching words of Jesus, " Of such is the king- 
dom of heaven." Better for me "to have a mill- 
stone about my neck, and be cast into the sea," 
than to write one word in this book that would 
offend one of Christ's little ones. I am glad there 
was an infant Jesus — I am glad there was a "man 
of sorrows," who took the little ones in his arms, 
and blessed them, saying, "Suffer little children, 
and forbid them not, to come unto me ; for of such 
is the kingdom of heaven." 

Abraham said, "My son, God will provide him- 
self a lamb." They walked on a little farther, till 
they reached the appointed place, the spot on which 
Solonaon's temple was built several hundred years 
afterward. Arriving there, Abraham laid down 
the knife, took the wood from Isaac's shoulders, 
and together they collected stones, and built an 
altar. Isaac, happy in his employment, looked 
up in the stern, rigid, but ever-loving face of his 



30 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

father; but he could read no answer to his ques- 
tioning look. Finally all was in order — the last 
stone laid on the altar, the wood piled up, the fire 
and knife lying on the ground near them. All 
things ready but the lamb. Ah ! many times have 
we all things but the essential one. There are peo- 
ple who have all the elements of a Christian char- 
acter bid the living Christ on the altars of their 
hearts. 

Abraham sent from his heart a last agonizing 
prayer, too deep to find utterance in words, and 
took the little one in his arms, and, after taking a 
last kiss, he bound him to the altar — the boy still 
resigned, but now quite astonished, as the thought 
for the first time flashed across his mind that he 
is the lamb to be offered in sacrifice. What a 
fearful moment! He loved life. He was the only 
son — Ishmael was dead to them. He enjoyed the 
beautiful sunshine, the flowers, and birds. He 
loved his old mother and gray-haired father. But 
we hear no murmur — he is as submissive as his 
father is brave. His passive suffering is more beau- 
tiful and grand than Abraham's actual work. 
Christ is more glorious in what he suffered, and for 
those things he did not do, than for the activities of 
his life. He held with a mighty powder the omnip- 
otence of a God within the little compass of a 
man's small frame. That he did not destroy sin- 



ISAAC. 31 

ners is more wonderful than his blessings on be- 
lievers. 

Abraham, having pressed to his aching heart his 
little one the last time, and bound him to the altar, 
'took the knife to slay his son." As we see it 
flashing in the morning sunbeams, just above the 
resigned face, our hearts stop beating, and we ask 
ourselves the question, Why, O why must the inno- 
cent ever suffer for the guilty ? 

Abraham had doubtless offered up hundreds of 
animals — surely God is exacting to demand his 
son, the child of his old age, the one in whom all 
the earth were to be blessed, by his own espe- 
cial covenant. While these thoughts are passing 
through the father's mind — not of unbelief, but of 
simple human curiosity, for his faith never wavered 
— the boy lay trembling, knowing that the moment 
the death-blow came from an earthly father's hand, 
the everlasting arms of a Heavenly Father would 
enfold him. 

Now the sacrifice is complete, so far as these two 
are concerned. In his heart Abraham sees his son 
on the altar dead, and the smoke, as it sends its 
blue, curling waves heavenward on the morning 
air, envelops the loved form — he is no more to be- 
hold here. But his guardian angel, listening in 
breathless attention, hears no murmur. Closely 
examining that sorely-tried heart, he finds nothing 



32 CHILDREN OE THE BIBLE. 

but a perfect obedience, proceeding from a perfect 
love for God. 

Grief for the loss of so precious a treasure he 
feels keenly, of course, but high above all feelings 
)f selfishness rises the sublime thought, I have 
obeyed God — I have given him my most precious 
gift, even my Isaac. I care not for the promise 
— God can take care of his word in his own way. 
Thus thought Abraham. Isaac, grandly submis- 
sive, lay there quietly, awaiting the blow. Ah! 
we have all been on our altars waiting for blows 
from God's hand which never came. 

While Abraham stands thus, unconsciously form- 
ing one of the grandest tableaux the angels ever 
witnessed, with his knife above his son, a quick, 
stern, impatient whisper is heard in some bushes 
near him: "Abraham, Abraham ! " Too bad, this 
interruption. AVhy not let the blow descend, now 
that his heart is nerved to strike it? But "God's 
ways are not as our ways." The answer came quick- 
ly, " Here am I." And the voice said, " Lay not 
thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything 
unto him ; for now I know that thou fearest God, 
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only 
son, from me." Then was faith perfected by bring- 
ing forth the act of obedience — faith the bud, obe- 
dience the blossom. 

Looking around, he saw a ram with his horn? 



ISAAC. 33 

fastened in a thicket, which he joyfully offered in- 
stead of his son. This picture, so living and beau- 
tiful, brings before us the whole scheme of man's 
redemption. Abraham may have seen and appre- 
ciated it. Abraham, as he stands, represents stern, 
inflexible justice, with drawn sword, ready to plunge 
it into the heart of guilty man, as he lies there in 
the person of Isaac. Jesus, in the form of the 
ram hid in the thicket, appears, receives the blow 
—justice is satisfied, man is free, Jesus has suf- 
fered. 

The preachers tell this story so beautifully some- 
times, then expatiate largely on Abraham's tran- 
scendent faith. They say Isaac was thirty-three 
years of age, but the Bible says lad, and lad means 
boy. Abraham's faith is glorious ; but how about 
Isaac's? How about a submissive, passive obedi- 
ence? Doing the will of God is one thing, suffer- 
ing his will is another; of the two, the former is 
much the easier. We love to read this beautiful 
story. We feel that it strengthens us in the per- 
formance of religious duty. 

Dear old Abraham! we love thy descendantSj 
in spite of the terrible tragedy of Calvary, and 
the present denial of our Lord, for to them we are 
indebted for all the story, from Adam to the apoc- 
alyptic vision on Patmos ; and we do earnestly pray 
for the time when '*a nation shall be born in a 
3 



34 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

day," and we hope that nation will be the scattered 
remains of Israel. In this story it is difficult to 
decide which we admire most — the father's faith, 
the son's submission, or the glorious reward to both 
actors in the scene. 

How the holy life of Isaac ever gives substan- 
tial praises to God for his great deliverance ! Sure- 
ly " God knoweth how to deliver the godly, out of 
temptations." Isaac has been called a type of our 
Saviour. As he \7ent, bearing the wood for the 
sacrifice on his back, to the top of Mount Moriah, 
so Jesus bore the cross for the sin of the world. 
Isaac was the son of promise, so was Jesus. Both 
were willing sacrifices. Both were laid on the 
altar by a father's hand. Here the similarity 
ceases. Isaac did not suffer, but in the extreme 
moment was delivered, and went home to his mother 
rejoicing. 

When the cruel executors of the law — fit repre- 
sentatives of our sins — laid the dear Jesus on his 
altar, no voice from heaven arrested their atten- 
tion, bidding them stay their murderous hands; 
no ram hid in a thicket was offered instead; but 
the blow, in all its crushing, sickening agony, came. 

While I was relating the wonderful story of the 
cross in Sabbath-school, a little girl, with large 
tears ready to start, said, "01 wish I could have 
been there, and could have killed those bad men 



ISAAC. 3 



for doing our dear Saviour so ! " " No, my dear 
child; your sins and mine drove the nails — our 
transgressions sharpened the spear — and to-day, if 
you reject him, and fail to cast behind you all un- 
belief, you are as guilty — yea, more so, than the 
actual murderers of the Son of God.'' 

With one dread stroke the hand that framed the 
universe and set the stars to moving was clinched 
to that cross, as helpless as yours or mine would 
have been. A superstition prevails in the East 
that the leaves of the Lombardy poplar tree turned 
white on that terrible day, and have ever since 
been wailing a low, solemn dirge, in memoriam. 
The cross was made of poplar. This is seemingly 
a little thing to remember, in comparison to so 
many great ones ; but, dear children, your smallest 
thought of Christ contains glory enough to make 
an angel's wing quiver with delight. 

I want you, in the smallest things, to see and feel 
the presence of God. When you hear the low, 
solemn moan of the poplar, and see the ashy pale- 
ness of its leaves, think of the sufferings Jesus en- 
dured for you. Yes, dear boys and girls, I would 
have you fly > your kites and dress your dolls under 
the felt smile of a loving Father in heaven. The 
head of Jesus bent in agony that we might, all 
rolled up in his merits, approach boldly the blood- 
sprinkled mercy-seat. He hung there three long 



36 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

hours, amid the mocking, jeering multitude, that 
he might blaze the way to heaven with his own 
blood. 

We are not surprised at the quaking earth, the 
opening graves, the rending vail, the blackness 
over the earth ; the wonder is that, with the expir- 
ing God-man, all nature did not go back to its 
original chaos. We are surprised at the Father 
hiding his face. "God wrapping our humanity'' 
around his divinity did not seem so great, but the 
unwrapping was fearful. On the cross there were 
no cheering words of " This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased." All this agony the re- 
sult of a woman eating an apple four thousand 
years before — a very little thing, but mighty in its 
disastrous results. Disobedience did it. 

Then, dear children, beware of little sins. Every 
thing is small in the beginning. If so little a sin 
cost so great a sacrifice, let us cast it out of our 
hearts, and invite the Saviour in — not as an occa- 
sional visitor, but an abiding guest. " If any man 
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in 
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.'' 
What a glorious thought! How it staggers our 
finite minds ! The God who rules the universe con- 
descends to enter a little child's heart, prompt all his 
acts, dictate his words, purify his thoughts — finally 
take him in his arms safe to glory. Jesus entered 



ISAAC, 



37 



the grave to conquer death, that we might enjoy- 
all the privileges of that conquest. 

Dear children, like Abraham, the faithful " friend 
of God," let us lay our most precious things on the 
altar of sacrifice. Like Isaac, the son of promise, 
let us be submissive to the will of our Heavenly 
Father, ever ready to be, to do, or to suffer, for him 
— ever remembering that we " are not our own, but 
that we are bought with a price, even the precious 
blood of Jesus Christ." 



ESAU AND JACOB. 



^^By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning 
things to come." Heb. xi. 20. 

ISAAC, the son of Abraham and Sarah, was 
forty years old when he married the beautiful 
Rebekah. Years passed slowly away, and no little 
glimpses of heaven, in the way of babies, came to 
gladden their lives, and stir up the depths of pa- 
ternal and maternal tenderness in their hearts. 
They loved each other very much, but there was a 
vacancy in their home that was growing more op- 
pressive as they passed down the shady side of the 
hill of life. 

After twenty years had dragged their slow length 
along, Isaac went to his God, who had so mysteri- 
ously saved his life in childhood, and besought 
him, with great earnestness and faith, to give him 
a son. O God, remember thy promise to Abra- 
ham, my father! Thou didst say, "I will bless 
Isaac; his seed shall be as the sands of the sea for 
multitude." Lord, I am sixty years old, and have 
ro child. I have waited long and patiently for a 
fulfillment of thy words. I know thou art true, 

(38) 



ESAU AND JACOB. 39 

Verify now thy promise; I believe thou wilt — thou 
art able. Yea, the thing is done — in thy mind the 
promise is fulfilled. 

God heard his prayer, and gave him a double 
blessing, in the persons of Esau and Jacob. God 
always acts thus when his children really pray. 
He takes the desire of their hearts, and embodies 
it, or gives them grace to be disappointed, in order 
to brighten the joys of the hereafter. 

The eldest son, Esau, was an ugly little fellow, 
looking more like an animal than any thing else. 
He was red, and covered all over with thick, short 
hair. Jacob, the younger, was a fat, fair-faced, 
bald-headed baby, with smooth skin, brown eyes, 
little rose-bud mouth, made for kissing purposes. 
Before their birth Kebekah had prayed a great 
deal, and on one occasion God informed her that 
she should be the mother of two great nations — 
that the elder should serve the younger — that he 
would hate the one and love the other. 

In saying this, God only told Eebekah what, in 
his foreknowledge, he saw. Because he foresaw 
what Esau and Jacob would do, it does not follow 
that he compelled them to do it. Children, God 
created and predestined you for heaven before the 
foundations of the world were laid. Accept the 
terms — that is, take Jesus for your everlasting por- 
tion. " God willeih not the death of any, but that 



40 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

all may come unto him and be saved." The farmer 
sows his seed ; he knows all will not yield fruit, but 
he did not predestine the loss of a single grain, 
though he knows that handfuls of it will rot be- 
neath the soil — handfuls will come up to be with- 
ered and scorched by the sun's rays. Accept 
Jesus, and keep on clinging to him, and no man, 
angel, or devil, can pluck you out of my Father's 
hand. 

Had Eebekah been one of those honorable, high- 
minded women, above deceit, like Ruth or Esther, 
how different would have been the lives of both 
her sons ! God might, in mercy, have been led to 
make glorious both their lives. A man with a 
panorama can tell what the pictures will be, though 
he will be unable to make them different ; so in the 
panorama of our lives, God knows and tells what 
the pictures in the lives of every Esau and Jacob 
will be, but the hand of Deity can alter the pict- 
ure his eye foresees. There are some things God 
cannot do without iingodding himself — one is, con- 
vert a man against his will. Are not the vices of 
the mother given like birth-marks to the soul of 
Jacob ? 

Was not Eebekah a supplanter before Jacob 
was one? The world is filled with Jacobs to-day, 
wronging their brothers; but there would be no 
Jacobs were there no Rebekahs. It is not neces- 



ESAU AND JACOB. 41 

gary to hunt an Isaiah to prophesy that a drunk- 
arcVs son will love whisky, or that a foolish woman 
of fashion will never give to the world a Sir Isaac 
Newton to bless mankind. Is there an American 
silly enough to say that little Miss Jackson, daugh- 
ter of our own "Stonewall," will ever grow into a 
trifling woman, a disgrace to the name? No; she 
will live to reflect renewed luster on the grand old 
name of Jackson — not only because God "shows 
mercy unto thousands of them that love him and 
keep his commandments" — not only because the 
promises are " unto you and to your children," but 
because a mother, holy and true, has implanted 
qualities in her character — traits which will be for 
the glory of God and the good of the world. 

As a Protestant, I have a God-given right to 
read my Bible, and form my own conclusions, 
prayerfully, submitting humbly to the guidance of 
that Holy Spirit who has said, " I will guide you 
into all truth." I am simply exercising that right 
when I believe and teach that Esau was a better 
boy than Jacob. The latter received the cool, cal- 
culating selfishness of Rebekah. The first lies he 
€ver told were at her express command. The quar- 
rels between these two brothers began instinctively 
at their birth. The first act of Jacob's life wsub 
to reach forth his little hand and catch Esau's 
heel. 



42 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Isaac aud Kebekah were very proud of their 
boys, and loved them dearly. Isaac loved Esau 
for the funniest of all reasons — "because he did 
eat of his venison ; " whereas Eebekah loved the 
pretty little Jacob, the supplanter. Time passed 
on, and Esau became a cunning hunter, spend- 
ing much of his time in the woods with his bow 
and arrows. He often brought home game, and 
cooked it nicely for his father. The old man 
enjoyed these little attentions, and they a^re^the 
straws in Esau's character showing which way the 
winds of unselfishness and kindly feeling were 
blowing. 

Jacob usually hung around the tent with his 
mother. He was one of those good (?) boys, who 
never do wrong when there is a possibility of dis- 
covery. He was naturally cunning, deceitful, and 
treacherous, and he made no effort to be otherwise. 
Esau was full of generous, noble impulses. He 
was high-tempered and impetuous — would strike 
you on the face, then make a manly apology, and 
do all he could to repair the mischief Jacob pos- 
sessed a principle in human nature for which we 
all have a contempt, but still feel we would like to 
possess — -policy. 

While this family was living in harmony, one 
day Esau, as usual, went hunting, and, on his re- 
turn, carried his game to his mother, threw his bow 



ESAU AND JACOB. 43 

and arrows on the ground, and sat down on a mat. 
Jacob was serenely cooking the noonday-meal — 
that is, he "sod pottage." This pottage is a kind 
of gumbo, or soup, made of lentils, a bean grow- 
ing in that country. He cooked it with oil and 
garlic. Esau, as he sat there almost tired to death, 
watched Jacob cooking, and, as the children say, 
"his mouth watered" for some of the savory mess. 
Jacob saw Esau's tired, hungry expression, but 
went on with his work. If he had been the saintly 
creature that the preachers manufacture for the 
edification and example of their congregations, he 
would have taken a large spoonful (I suppose 
spoons were fashionable then) of this delightful 
mess, and held it to his mouth, saying, "Here, 
brother Esau, eat this while it is nice and warm; 
you look so fatigued ; you do wrong to stay out so 
long. Is this pottage nice? or shall I put in a lit- 
tle more garlic? Perhaps more oil would improve 
it." 

Esau would have smiled, "Thank you, brother 
Jacob ; it is the nicest I ever ate ; it is so kind in 
you to ofier it to me. No, I thank you, no more ; 
I feel quite strong now. Brother Jacob, I killed a 
fine deer, and when I rest awhile we will cook 
some of it. Father enjoys the venison I make for 
him so much." 

That would have been a conversation worthy of 



44 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

record, and so brotherly in Jacob, the father of the 
patriarchs in prospective. 

Esau sat some time, longing for one mouthful, 
then said, Give me some of that red pottage. Ja- 
cob, seeing what an advantage he had over the 
poor, tired boy, said quickly, "Sell me this day 
thy birthright." This was the meanest thing he 
could have said. Poor, tired Esau ! you are not 
the only one who has been cheated out of your 
rights by a brother. Weak as he was, he hesitated 
a moment, then said, I am about to die of hunger ; 
what profit is the birthright to me? Yes, I will 
give it to you for a mess of pottage. So Esau de- 
spised his birthright, and sold it, and Jacob cheated 
him out of it. 

Ah, Esau! reflect one moment. God has said 
two great nations will be made of you two boys. 
You cannot die till God has accomplished his pur- 
pose with you. You may live a year, and never 
see a morsel of food. You may be put in the fire, 
in the water, anywhere, but Death, brave and un- 
conquerable as he appears to be, cannot touch you. 
The lions never opened theiv mouths when Daniel 
was their guest — God's design had not been com- 
pleted. The Hebrew children walked about amid 
the curling flames, and came out untouched. Jonah 
refused to digest when the whale swallowed him. 
The crocodile never touched a finger of "the good- 



ESAU AND JACOB. 45 

ly child," as he lay weeping on the banks of the 
river Nile. Wicked men tried to take Jesus, and 
fell on their faces. After the design was acccom- 
plished, they crucified him. After the great nation 
is made, then you may perish, Esau, but not be- 
fore. 

It is impossible for a Gentile to fully understand 
or appreciate the value of this birthright. There 
were many and peculiar blessings attached to it. 
The eldest son received a double portion of the 
father's estate; was adviser and counselor in the 
absence or sickness of his parents ; was a priest of 
God ; was consecrated to his service, and somehow 
the great blessing was to descend through his line. 
These privileges were sometimes forfeited on ac- 
count of misconduct, as in the case of Keuben. 
Esau sold the great honor of being ancestor to our 
Saviour " for a mess of pottage." 

Jacob and Esau both understood, in all its rich 
spirituality of meaning, this blessed privilege. Ja- 
cob's cunning was more than a match for Esau's 
honesty. Jacob's sin was willful meanness ; Esau's, 
momentary physical weakness^ 

Boys, in hours of bodily suffering, hold on to 
Jesus. When tempted to steal the rich blessmgs 
of another, remember Jesus. Jacob was sorely 
punished in after-life for the treachery and double- 
dealing of his youth. Esau suffered, repented, and 



4G 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE, 



went down to the grave in sorrow for one moment's 
weakness. 

Children, be strong and earnest. All heaven is 
on your side. Omnipotence is enlisted for you, 
and will give you power to conquer every foe, and 
break down all obstacles. 




I 



JOSEPH 



^"k\\ things work together for good to them that love 
God/^ Eom. viii. 28. 

J'ACOB, the son of Isaac, and twin-brother of 
Esau, served Laban seven years for Racbel, 
then bad the ugly Leah palmed off on him ; but, 
faithfully loving Rachel, he served another seven 
years — all this time living with her father. 

In the olden time, among the Jews, women con- 
sidered children as a kind of tangible, crystallized 
smile of God in their homes, and the absence 
of these little life-rejuvenators was considered a 
positive affliction, and sure sign of God's displeas- 
ure; and women prayed for children just as they 
would for any otber great blessing ; and when they 
were given, in answer to the prayer of faith, in- 
stead of being made walking advertisements for the 
merchants, milliners, and jewelers, they were trained 
in the duties that prepared them for eternity. God 
gave them straight from heaven, and they were 
expected to return and spend the eternal ages with 
him in glory. In those days it was an honor to 
train an immortal soul for God. 

(47) 



48 CHILDREN OF*THE BIBLE. 

The beautiful Rachel had no children for sev- 
eral years, and she was getting quite jealous of her 
sister Leah, as she saw her little Simeon, Reuben, 
Levi, and Judah, playing their boyish pranks 
around their father's knee. Rachel knew that 
somehow the great God of the universe was to 
wrap himself in our humanity — be born, live, suf- 
fer, and die, for the redemption of Israel, and, 
naturally, she wished him to descend in her line 
instead of her sister's. 

By and by, when Jacob was getting old, RacheFs 
beauty fading — perhaps their love, so warm and 
true in youth, growing cold — little Joseph came, 
like the holy sacrament, a tender memory and a 
bright hope realized. I can well imagine the joy 
of the family as the child lay in the arms of his 
mother. How the boys rejoiced — ten in number 
— to see the little bundle of pink humanity, as he 
was handed around among them to be admired 
and examined! How young Jacob felt! A new 
lease of life seemed to have been given him. Zil- 
pah, Leah, Bilhah — all perhaps came to rejoice 
with their husband. That "babe in the house was 
indeed a well-spring of pleasure." 

Time passed on, and the tendrils of Jacob's 
lieart began to twine around the boy, to the exclu- 
sion of the other children. His wives — Leah, the 
good, and Rachel, the beautiful — were almost for- 



JOSEPH. 49 

gotten in the great love he bore for the infant Jo- 
seph. Take care, old man! the Lord thy God is a 
jealous God. He will not reign in a divided heart. 
Thou knowest, though the commandments are not 
yet written, that he said, "Thou shalt have no 
other gods before me." 

People in those days told the truth, and tradi- 
tion was reliable. There were no appearances to 
be kept up, therefore not so much necessity (?) for 
insincerity. Your father Isaac told you the com- 
mand, therefore untwine the affections of that 
faithful heart before it is too late. What a lesson 
Jacob's life ought to be to men of all ages who are 
inclined to love one child more than the others! 
Jacob went so far as to show his unjust partiality 
in making little Joseph a coat of many colors. I 
wonder if the boys of the nineteenth century ever 
try to imagine how he looked in his fancy coat? 
How was it made ? How many colors were there? 
And did he walk around and admire himself as 
boys of the present do? He had no mirror to re- 
flect his gorgeous image; he may have arranged 
his toilet by the margin of some quiet stream. 
Why did not Eachel make it? And did he say, 
Aha! father has made me a fancy coat; he loves 
me best? These were his feelings — I suppose he 
expressed them in the Hebrew^ language, "as boys 
will be boys," and must torment each other when 
4 



60 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

there are no girls around. Of course his brothers 
became jealous, and, to increase this feeling, Joseph 
began to dream strange dreams, and was unwise 
enough to tell them. 

He dreamed one night that they were all out in 
the field binding sheaves, and the sheaves of his 
brethren made obeisance to his sheaf. They re- 
ported this to their father, who said nothing, of 
course. The favorite son in a family seems io have 
a perfect right to be as disagreeable as he pleases. 

At another time Joseph dreamed that the sun, 
moon, and stars, bowed down to him. It made no 
difference to Jacob about the sheaves, but when the 
sun, moon, and stars, made obeisance, he, quickly 
interpreting it to mean himself and wife, rebuked 
Joseph. 

Thus we see the parental authority over the fa- 
vorite son, also the selfishness of Jacob. He did 
not care how much Joseph worried the other chil- 
dren, so long as he did not interfere with him. 
These other children were the sons of Leah, Zil- 
pah, and Bilhah. He did not love them much, 
cither for themselves or their mothers' sake. 

Jacob's sons, though rich, were compelled to 
work. A boy who idles away his time is a pest, a 
nuisance, a mortifying sore on the body of human- 
ity. Boys, if you are poor, work ; earn your living 
by the sweat of your brow: every sweat-drop 



JOSEPH. 51 

brought out by honorable toil is a precious pearl 
in the sight of God and his holy angels. Die in 
preference to being dependent on rich relatives! 
If God, in his mercy, has given you a sufficiency 
of this world's goods, down on your knees and poui 
out your soul in thankful prayer ; then get up and 
embody that prayer in honest work, and spend 
your earnings for the glory of that God who gave 
you strength to toil for him. When I see a lazy 
boy, I feel a strange longing to take away his 
powers for usefulness, and give them to those who 
will use them to advantage. You all will have to 
give a strict account of how you have used here 
your hands, your feet, your heart, and brain. 

One day these boys were out tending their father's 
flocks, and remained so long that Jacob became 
uneasy, and Joseph (the pet, papa's darling — I 
know he must have been trifling then — what right 
had he to be staying at home while the others were 
at work?) was sent to see what had become of 
them. So off* he started in his many-colored coat. 
He wandered about for some tinie, and, seeing a 
man, he inquired if he had seen some young men 
watching a flock of sheep. Yes, said the stranger, 
I heard them talking, and one said they were go- 
ing to Dothan. 

Joseph walked on, and, coming in sight of his 
brothers Satan entered their hearts, and they be- 



52 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

gaii to plan his murder. Here we begin to tremble 
for the boy. The odds- are fearfully against him — 
ten against one. Will he now remind them of his 
father's love for him? Eeuben, a little braver 
than the rest, said, Let us not kill him; we will 
put him in a pit, and leave him there to starve. 
In his heart he hoped the lad would escape. 

After considerable talk, the others agreed, to this 
plan. A death by starvation in a pit was more 
respectable than cold-blooded murder. They would 
be rid of him and his dying agonies, which would 
have been disagreeable to these saintly patriarchs 
— in prospective. So they — ^ten to one, for Benja- 
min was not with them — stripped his beautiful 
coat off of him, and put him in a pit, or deep well. 
Satan triumphed then, grandly ; but the wrath of 
man shall praise our God — good shall overturn all 
evil. Be as wicked as you please — your very sins 
shall bring glory to his name, for the Lord our 
God hath spoken it. 

After this Satanish transaction, they coolly sat 
down and ate bread. Judas ate bread with Jesus 
while his black heart was planning his murder. 
That performance must go on, in joy or sorrow, all 
the same. Adam and Eve started the fashion, as 
they ate the uncooked bread-fruit of Eden, and we 
still follow it. Kich and poor, learned and igno- 
rant, alike, must eat. 



JOSEPH. 53 

After these nine men — for I will except Reuben ; 
he wanted to save the boy's life — had committed 
murder in their hearts, and were rejoicing over it, 
they looked up and saw a company of Ishmaelites 
(merchantmen) coming. A bright thought struck 
Judah — if there can be brightness in sin; so he 
proposed to sell him. The brethren agreed to it. 
Then there passed by Midianites (merchants) ; and 
they drew him out of the pit, and sold him to the 
Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. 

When Eeuben saw that he w^as not in the pit, 
horror and remorse for his cowardice and unmanly 
conduct seized him, and he began to tear his clothes 
and mourn when too late. They then killed a 
kid, and dipped Joseph's beautiful coat in the 
blood, and carried it home to their father. He 
said. Perhaps my son has been devoured by some 
wild beast. Jacob believed this, and mourned 
long and bitterly for his favorite son. O the tears 
that have been wrung from the hearts of parents 
because of undutiful sons ! 

Jacob is now reaping the whirlwind of sorrow 
he sowed in his youth, when he played around h's 
mother's door with his brother Esau. He lied to 
his father while that father lay on his dying-bed , 
now the falsehoods of his sons are to bring down 
his gray hairs in sorrow to the grave. 

O boys ! in early life sow seeds of immortal joy 



54 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

by doing good all the day long, and it certainly 
will return to you in after years. I have not much 
sympathy for Jacob. He should not have shown 
so plainly his partiality for Joseph, creating en- 
mity in the hearts of his brothers. I knew the 
fancy coat would make mischief. I have heard 
harsh words in my Sabbath-school class, before my 
eyes, from little girls dressed in calico to little ones 
dressed better. 

Jacob's grief w^as so great that all his sons and 
daughters rose up to comfort him. O the deceit- 
fulness of the human heart! who can know it? 
Every day and every hour we need the blood of 
Jesus applied by faith to our hearts. While Jacob 
was mourning over the loss of Joseph, and his de- 
eeitfiil sons were trying to comfort him, Joseph was 
slowly and sadly traveling with his master to the 
most civilized and powerful country on earth, there 
to find a varied experience of joy and sorrow. 

How that beautiful coat of his typifies his life, 
and every Joseph among us ! As we tread our path- 
way through the darkness of this world, do we not 
all find ourselves clothed in a parti-colored coat, 
woven by a Father's hand, with here a black thread 
of bereavement, there a gray one of disappoint- 
ment, ever and anon the dingy, faded colors of 
sorrow mingling with the golden-hued ones of joy, 
and the silvery beauties of unexpected deliver- 



JOSEPH. 55 

ance? O Lord, dip tliese variegated coats of ours 
in the blood of the slain Lamb, and purify us day 
by day! 

Poor boy ! how humble he now feels ! All the 
good he ever heard from his father — all the love 
he ever felt for him — rushes through his soul now. 
He thinks too of his mother — how she died, and 
left little Benjamin to the care of his father. His 
whole life comes before him. He feels resentment 
at the conduct of his brethren. He repents of his 
foolishness in telling those silly dreams. Finally 
they arrive in Egypt, and again he is sold to Pot- 
iphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and captain of the 
guard. 

In reading the Bible, it seems that the brethren 
were thrown in to make a dark background, to 
show to better advantage the beautiful character 
of Joseph. We regret the unmanly course pur- 
sued by Judah. We expected better things of the 
great ancestor of our Saviour. But the twelve 
sons of Jacob were only twelve earthen vessels, 
containing a little of the breath of the Almighty. 
" God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of 
life, and man became a living soul." Joseph too 
was a sinner, and as such the blood of Jesus, after 
four thousand years, was to be shed. His career 
in Egypt was a most beautiful and successful one 
He bore the darkness of the dungeon, the fou] 



56 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

slanders of his enemies, the forgetfulness of friends, 
with equal fortitude. He was faithful, honest, and 
true. At the height of prosperity, the second man 
in the kingdom, holding the keys to all the food in 
the land, he was not unduly elated, and never took 
advantage of his high jjosition to be insolent and 
overbearing. 

Those who lived before Christ looked down the 
coming ages, through the crimson blood of pigeons, 
goats, heifers, and sheep, to the true blood that was 
to flow — the precious Lamb to be slain on Calvary. 
They loved and trusted Jesus as we do, only they 
looked forward — we backward ; like a magnificent 
arch, Jesus the center, the keystone that unites, 
strengthens, and perfects the whole structure. The 
very initiation into the synagogue was a bloody 
rite, pointing to Jesus. Now water has taken the 
place of all this blood. There is no longer use for 
types and symbols, because we have the precious 
reality. 

I know not how others may regard the character 
of Joseph, but for his purity, ready forgiveness of 
his brothers, fidelity to his king, and love for his 
God, he took a firm hold on my heart when, as 
a child, I first read the beautiful story. I love 
Moses for his meekness, Enoch for that blessed 
walk. Job for his patience, Abraham for his faith, 
Paul for his courage and conscientiousness, John 



JOSEPH, 



57 



for his sweetness, Peter for his candor ; but of all 
characters of sacred history, I love Joseph best, 
because he is most like Jesus. 

In teaching this lesson, I sometimes fail to show 
the blackness of the crime committed by the breth- 
ren, so intense becomes my interest in teaching the 
virtues of Joseph. 



MIRIAM. 



"Think not in that hour what ye shall say. It is not 
ye that speak, but the Spirit that is in you.'' 

THE Hebrews were living in Egypt, and an- 
other King Pharaoh, Amosis by name, who 
"knew not Joseph," sat upon the throne. The 
Egyptians, at this time, were the most enlightened 
people on earth — that is, they understood the arts 
and sciences better. They excelled all others in 
wealth, talent, and refinement. They were all that 
a nation could be who had no God. 

The king had forgotten the services rendered by 
the virtuous Joseph, who had long been dead. The 
Hebrews were a strong, healthy race of people, en- 
tirely different from other nations, and the king 
compelled them to work hard on all manner of 
field-work. They built large treasure-cities, and 
some historians assert that they built those immense 
piles of architecture known as the Pyramids, one 
of the seven wonders of the world. When the 
straw with which they made mortar was exhausted, 
they were compelled by their cruel task-masters to 
go into the fields for stubble; and still, with or 

(58) 



MIRIAM. 59 

without straw, the daily tale of the bricks must be 
given. They were made to serve with rigor, and 
they groaned by reason of hard bondage. Ah ! if 
we could see the tears which trickled down the 
cheeks of God's favored ones, and fell on those 
immense mountains of stone, how sad we would 
feel! 

In spite of hard work, cruel oppression, and th^ 
task-master's lash, they still worshiped the God oi 
all the earth, and looked for a better day. Theii 
numbers increased rapidly. 

During this time of bitterness of soul, Miriam, 
the eldest child and only daughter of Amram and 
Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, was born. The 
name signifies rebellion, perhaps in prophetic ref- 
erence to her unjust rebellion against her brother 
Moses. Perhaps Jochebed felt her own heart ris- 
ing against the injustice done her race. Miriam 
heard from -the first many stories of cruelty. It 
may be her own father often came home with his 
back scarred and bleeding from the merciless lash 
of the task-master. Her little heart early learned 
to sympathize with the miseries of her people. 
Then too she had daily recitals of God's goodness. 
The whole treasury of heavenly knowledge was 
laid up in the hearts of the Hebrews. Miriam 
knew the history of the creation of the world, the 
flood, and Noah's wonderful ride over the roaring 



60 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

waters. Pier mother had told her of Abraham's 
call to leave his people, go into a strange land, and 
become "the friend of God." Her eyes had often 
kindled with indignation as she heard how Ishmael 
mocked the pretty little Isaac. Her cheeks crim- 
soned with delight as she heard again and again 
of how Isaac was offered up as a burnt-offering by 
his gray-haired father. 

No wonder she was interested in these stories — ' 
they were her forefathers, and in all ages of the 
world people have been proud of a noble ancestry. 
Miriam's life was a hard one from her infancy, but 
she had a kind, loving mother, who trained her 
carefully, in spite of the degraded condition of the 
people. Belonging to the tribe of Levi, she was 
better educated than she otherwise would have 
been. The Levite was always an educated man, 
and to him was committed the oracles of God. He 
was a sacred character, standing above the other 
eleven tribes. 

The Bible mentions Miriam's name in several 
places as being a lady of considerable distinction 
— indeed, what Moses was to the men of Israel, 
Miriam was to the women — a leader whom all were 
glad to follow. After the passage over the Eed 
Sea, they had a kind of concert, Moses leading the 
men in songs of praises and religious dances, while 
Miriam led the women. Only one circumstance 



MIRIAM. 61 

of her childhood is given — that is sufficient to 
point the way to a noble character. 

When she was nine years old, Aaron was born, 
of which no special mention is made. When about 
twelve years old, the slavery of her people was al- 
most unbearable. Then the king issued orders 
that all male children should be drow^ned in the 
river as soon as they were born. Thus perished 
manv little infants. At this time Moses was born. 
He was from the first the finest type of our Saviour, 
being so beautiful that the eyes of eighteen centu- 
ries have lingered with delight over his infant 
character. He, when under the direct influence 
of the Holy Ghost, said he was "a proper child." 
Luke, inspired in the same way, calls him "a 
goodly child." "The babe wept" in the arms of 
a princess, and was so lovely that it secured him a 
home in the palace. Josephus speaks of his beau- 
ty. God had a special object in view in making 
him so perfect. What a pity to throw away so 
much loveliness! we say. Poor Jochebed! how 
her heart bled for her boy ! How she prayed and 
w^ept as she hushed his cries for fear of discovery ! 
Poor baby ! to all human appearance, you came in 
the worst possible time. Little Miriam assisted 
her mother in caring for him all she could, and 
was a great comfort to her. Three months they 
kept him in the house — months of terror and alarm 



62 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

- -months of joy unspeakable. At this time it oe- 
came impossible to hide him any longer in this 
densely-populated country, where every cry would 
perhaps be heard by the enemy, who was skulking 
around all the time. 

After planning, thinking, and praying, night 
after night, she at last determined on throwing 
him on God. Ah! how God loves to be tested! 
How closely linked with a blessing is every prayer ! 
Jochebed went to the river, attended by her daugh- 
ter, and brought back a bucket of slime and an 
arinful of bulrushes. Then, in the dead hours of 
the night, she and her little Miriam wove a basket, 
and daubed it with the slime, or pitch, so as to make 
it water-proof. Thank you, good woman, for do- 
ing your work so well; you were working on my 
destiny, and the destinies of the souls that God has 
given me to sparkle in my eternal crown. 

Slowly and sadly, with little Moses in her arms, 
followed by Miriam bearing the basket, by the 
^arly morning light, she cautiously and silently 
crept to the river Nile ; then, with no eye to wit- 
/less save Miriam's and the holy angels, she gently 
laid him on the waves, and tied the basket to the 
shore. Then, turning to her daughter, she earnest- 
ly charged her to go a short distance, within sight 
and hearing, and watch him. What a trying posi- 
tion for a little girl of twelve years ! Think of it, 



MIRIAM. 63 

jou little ones who have sat all your lives in the 
downy lap of luxury. Here was a child sitting 
by a river's brink watching the frailest boat that 
ever floated on a wave ; and it contained the most 
precious passenger, only three months old. This 
little green ark holds the destinies of the world. 
Within this basket is inclosed the whole Levitical 
law, with all its grand and imposing ceremonies. 
Here are the rules by which all the world is to be 
governed — yea, the Saviour himself is to be guided 
by them. Here is the germ of the temple, the 
grandest building ever fashioned by man's hands. 
Indeed, it seems that the whole world is now em- 
bodied in the form of helpless infancy ; for, had he 
been lost, where, O where should we have been, with 
our tendencies to wander awav from God ? 

All this glorious destiny is now held by the hand 
of a little girl twelve years of age. What if she 
prove faithless ? Suppose she gets tired, and runs 
away? What if she tries to change the arrange- 
ment of the little basket? O there are ten thou- 
sand dangers to be feared! Reared, as she had 
been, within sight of the cruel lash, she is equal to 
the occasion. The hours passed by so wearily! 
Higher and higher climbed the Egyptian sun — 
hotter and hotter it shone ; still no one came. 

Patiently the little girl sat there, watching, fear- 
ing, praying, so tired. The anxious vigil must have 



64 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

lasted four or five hours. The baby still slept, 
rocked by the waves, fanned by the breezes, and 
enveloped in an atmosphere of prayer. What a 
responsibility for so small a child ! No storm came 
lo dash the little vessel in pieces, and drown the 
3hild. No venomous reptile disturbed his sleep. 
Sweetly he slumbered on, as if in his mother's 
arms. 

Suddenly Miriam heard the sound of approach- 
ing voices. Her quick ear told her they were the 
voices of women. Among them was one with 
queenly form and graceful movements, with long, 
flowing hair, and loving countenance. Miriam 
knew that it was the king's daughter. Quietly 
she sat and listened. How her heart beat! What 
must she do? O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Ja- 
cob, protect the baby ! prayed the sister. 

The princess saw something in the river, and di- 
rected her maid to bring it to her. She did so, 
and, to her surprise and joy, as she opened the 
little bundle, the most beautiful infant that ever 
li ved looked up in her face and wept. How eager- 
ly she watched the lady as she tenderly took the 
child from the basket! Never was a woman so 
closely watched as the princess was by Miriam. 

Now the little girl comes from her hiding-place, 
and, in the most polite but indifferent manner, 
proposes to call a nurse from am.ong the Hebrew 



MIRIAM. 65 

women. The princess, equally indifferent, agreed 
to the proposal. So, overcome with joy, she ran to 
her mother, and brought her to the princess. Miri- 
am acted her part admirably. Had she ran away 
to play, or fallen asleep, what a different state of 
affairs there would have been ! Your destiny and 
mine would have been changed. Had she shown 
too much interest in the child, all would have been 
spoiled ; but she was a good girl, prayed to the God 
of Abraham, then let him direct the path while 
she walked in it. She was faithful and true in a 
little thing. There is no special credit in watching 
a sleeping baby, but to do it right was the thing. 
Little girls, I do n't know but that one of you may 
be holding to-day the destiny of a nation. 

Jochebed took the child home calmly, as she 
would any other baby, and he grew from infancy 
to boyhood beside the faithful little sister who loved 
him so well. 

Miriam, living as she did in the very center of 
the first nation on earth, had ample means for an 
education, and, with her quick mind, she grew to 
be an educated, refined woman. Her talent, or gift 
(whatever it was called), for prophecy was culti- 
vated. She learned music at an early age, also 
dancing. In those days dancing was a sacred ob- 
servance, and as such recognized by the people. 
A sacred thing changed to common uses is sacri 
5 



66 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. « 

lege — one of the worst of sins. In this truly ad- 
mirable character there was a shade of jealousy, 
which sometimes came out at unexpected times and 
places Miiiam lived to a good old age, and died 
at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Sin. Sh-e is the 
first leper on record. 

Little girls, learn from Miriam the value of 
watchfulness. Be faithful to every thing intrusted 
to your care. Be earnest girls, and you Avill find 
no difficulty in being earnest women. You have 
only one little, short life to live. O live it well, 
for Christ's sak^ ! I say Miriam learned to dance ; 
I also set her up as an example for the little. girk* 
I have taught. I would not, my dear children, 
have you believe that I approve of dancing as it 
now is ; but if, like Miriam, you dance for Christ's 
sake, as a mode of worship, do it always. If you 
can get on your knees and ask God to smile on and 
bless you in any thing, it is right — do it. A thing 
that you cannot ask God to bless you in is a moral, 
soul-destroying wrong ; therefore shun it with more 
care than you do the miasma of the epidemic. Bet- 
ter die ten thousand deaths than cause one frown to 
pass over the face of a losing Father in heaven. 



MOSES. 



" Despise not the day of small things." 

DURING a time of great persecution among 
the Israelites in Egypt, there lived a man of 
the tribe of Levi named Amram, and his wife 
Jochebed. They had two children — a little girl, 
aged twelve, named Miriam, and a boy of three, 
named Aaron. Jochebed was a good wife and ex- 
emplary mother, and faithful to her God. 

The Hebrews were God's chosen people; there- 
fore, according to the promise to Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, they increased so rapidly, in spite of 
hard work and persecution, that the wicked King 
Pharaoh issued orders to have all the male chil- 
dren among them slain as soon as they were born, 
for fear that, in time of war, they would fight him, 
and become his masters, instead of his slaves. 

About the time this slaughter of the innocents 
was at its height, God sent Jockebed a beautiful, 
blue-eyed boy. She received him with joy and 
thanksgiving as a direct gift from God — an immor- 
tal soul to train for eternity; therefore she rejoiced. 
She received him with fear and sorrow, because, 

(67) 



68 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

with every cry, he was in danger of having his life 
taken, thereby tearing up every fiber of her faith- 
ful heart. O how anxiously that fond mother 
watched over her child! How Miriam exerted 
herself to keep little Aaron, still a baby, from 
waking him while sleeping! I dare say Amram 
had to walk on tiptoe — perhaps was scarcely al- 
lowed to stay at home — for fear of making baby 
cry. ^ 

When the little one was eight days old, a party 
of Israelites assembled at the humble dwelling of 
these pious Levites. Perhaps they had completed 
a day of hard work, and came, weary and discon- 
solate, in soiled clothing, with hair and beard un- 
combed, faces unwashed, to perform what seemed 
to them almost a meaningless ceremony. But the 
God of Abraham had commanded it, and he must 
be obeyed in sorrow and humiliation as well as in 
the days of joy and prosperity. There certainly is 
a good time coming, thought they. The "proper 
child," as a descendant of Abraham, was circum- 
cised and named. Amram, feeling a kind of pre- 
sentiment that the "goodly child" was to have 
some remarkable destiny, and possibly be the ex- 
pected deliverer of his people from bondage, called 
him Joachim. 

How strangely quiet the place must have been 
for three long months ! Then it became impossible 



MOSES. 69 

to hide him any longer, as boy-babies must cry; sc 
some new plan to save his life must be discovered. 
He could not remain in the house — to be sent to a 
friend's was just as bad. Of course there was no 
Egyptian woman to take him. What must be 
done? I can, by faith, hear the low whispers of 
Amram and Jochebed, as they talk of their vari- 
ous plans while the children are sleeping. But 
mother-wit is the wisest of all wisdom. The Holy 
Spirit taught Jochebed what to do. So she went 
to the river, and returned with an armful of bul- 
rushes — a kind of green reed, or grass, about ten or 
twelve feet high, common in that country — and a 
bucketful of slime, or pitch ; and at night, with no 
one to sympathize save the womanly Miriam, Joche- 
bed, probably singing baby to sleep, with her heart 
full of fear, tremblingly wove a little basket, work- 
ing in with every reed a prayer and a tear. This 
was to be his last night in her house. God alone 
knew where he would sleep the next night. Anxi- 
ety banished sleep from her eyes, and she tenderly 
watched his slumbers all the dreary night. 

Early in the morning, while the dew was still 
sparkling on the blossoms, before the sun began to 
crimson the eastern horizon, she took the still- 
sleeping infant, and, with little Miriam to carry 
the bulrush-basket, went quietly to the river Nile. 
On arriving there, she silently knelt, and, with the 



70 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

faitli of a Syrophenician mother, lovingly and ten- 
derly placed the little one in the basket, tucking 
the covering in here and there, then gently put the 
basket in the river, and tied it to the trees on the 
shore. Imprinting a last earnest kiss on his pearly 
brow — ^perhaps leaving a tear — she left him, still 
sleeping, alone with God. Then, turning to the 
little sister, she charged her to go to a distance, 
and "to wit what would be done to him." — 
. Homeless within sight of his mother's house — 
an orphan with father and mother still living — 
alone, with his sister, with every nerve intensified 
as never before, watching him. O mothers, if you 
want your children well cared for, throw them on 
Qod! 

Arriving at home, Jochebed threw herself on 
her knees in an agony of prayer. " O my God I 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ! my Fa- 
ther, save my boy, if it be thy will, for the sake 
of the coming Messiah, who, in the fullness of time, 
is to pour out his blood for him. Let no fish from 
below, no bird from above, disturb the quiet slum- 
bers of my boy. May my little girl see with a 
clearer vision, and hear better than ever before, 
that she may realize the slightest approach of dan- 
ger. Strengthen the cords that bind the little ark 
to the trees on the shore. Protect him from all 
dangers, seen and unseen, and open the way for 



MOSES. 71 

me to bring him up for thy glory — for the sake of 
the Shiloh to come, and be crucified for him." 

How beautifully, how touchingly, the Bible re- 
cords this story ! We get hahy Moses in our hearts, 
and hahy Moses he is, even to the end of his well- 
spent life. We cannot drive out the baby, even to 
make room for the great law-receiver on Sinai, nor 
the perfected saint on Nebo, nor the redeemed 
spirit on Hermon, as he converses with Jesus and 
Elias of "that which should be accomplished at 
Jerusalem." 

We, as Americans, teach our children — and very 
properly too — to admire and reverence the mother 
of Washington; but here we have the mother of 
a man beside whom our Washington sinks into i:::- 
significance — a woman whose faith could remove 
mountains — ^yea, stronger, for it outwitted the watch- 
ful, wicked minions of the despicable King Pha- 
raoh. 

Truly there is an omnipotency in mother-love. 
She may forget her nursing child, but, of all the 
millions who have existed, those forgetful of their 
offspring may be numbered by tens or twenties 
Then honor your mothers, according to the com- 
mand, and consider them God's choicest gifts, next 
to Jesus. 

Closely rolled within the acorn we have the 
mighty forest. In this bulrush-basket lies the lit- 



72 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

tie dimpled hand that is one day to hold a rod that 
will make all Egypt quake and tremble. That little 
hand is to make millions mourn, and unnumbered 
millions yet unborn rejoice. That little tongue, 
now so silent and incapable of articulate sounds, 
is one day to talk face to face with the great Je- 
hovah. That baby form, lying there in the power 
of the smallest insect, apjjarently, is to hide in the 
cleft rock to keep from being annihilated by the 
glory of God. This little baby is to be singled 
out by God, and, in manhood, is the only one in all 
the world who, before death, wore his resurrection- 
body. That little face is to shine with such daz- 
zling brightness, and catch so much of the heavenly 
glory, that the people shall beg to have it veiled. 
Those little feet are to march at the head of a con- 
quering army, six hundred thousand strong, over 
Africa's burning sands ; walk dry-shod through the 
Red Sea, as at the command of God he waves the 
rod, and the waters rise on each side — a solid wall 
of crystal, casting rainbows of beauty in every di- 
rection. 

With such a destiny before him, such a mother 
to pray for him, such a God above, no wonder the 
Lord looked down and smiled — no wonder arch- 
angels, seraphim, cherubim, and redeemed saints 
smiled in return. All heaven rejoiced, not at the 
baby (anybody's child can sleep in a basket in a 



MOSES. 73 

river), but at the mother's faith. That was the 
substantial base on which every thing rested. 

As we read the story, we find ourselves naturally 
looking for something to happen. We cast our 
eyes around at the river: that mysterious stream, 
without a source, so far as we can discover, flows 
on as tranquilly as though it were never to be 
turned into blood at the command of the infant 
now lying helpless on its quiet bosom. We look 
toward Jochebed's dwelling — all is peaceful there. 
Apparently there are no agonizing hearts under 
that humble roof. Suddenly we hear a crushing 
sound among the bulrushes on the bank, and the 
most natural thing happens — the very thing we were 
unconsciously expecting — Pharaoh's daughter and 
her maids come to bathe. We are not one bit sur- 
prised ; neither are we surprised when she takes the 
little one in her arms, and we hear his wailing cry 
for his mother ("the babe wept"). That little cry 
was heard in heaven — it went down in the woman's 
heart, stirring every tender and true emotion of 
her soul — truly a Holy Ghost cry. As she saw 
the crystal drops of infantile fear and loneliness 
on his little cheek, like new-born dew-drops trem- 
bling on a rose-bud, her heart was touched. O 
what a world of unuttered eloquence in those tears ! 
" He was a goodly child." Every inch of that form, 
from the top of his bald head to the wee, wee naila 



74 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

of his little pink toes and fingers, was molded ac- 
cording to the most perfect model of infantine per- 
fection. God had breathed into that baby form 
his highest ideal of perfect innocence. The king- 
dom of heaven is peopled with such children. This 
child's tears made his fortune. Unconsciously he 
wraps himself right around the woman s heart 
What cares she at this moment for crowns and 
scepters? Was there ever a woman whose sympa- 
thies were not aroused at the cry of helpless in- 
fancy? Yea, a queen on her throne would forget 
her crown and scepter at the cry of her infant, if 
she be a true woman. 

In this instance the Egyptian princess proves her- 
self worthy to wear the holy name of woman. .As 
she stands by the river, so beautiful — as we see her 
chucking the baby's chin, kissing the velvety cheek, 
counting toes and fingers, trying to call up a smile 
on the face of the weeping ba,be — while the maid- 
ens are standing watching their mistress — we feel 
that the picture is perfect. Not so — another ele- 
ment is lacking. Holding the little one in her 
arms, and hushing his cries as best she could, she 
said to her companions, "Here is one of the He- 
brews' children." How beautiful the faith of those 
miserable slaves in their God ! My father doomed 
this little one to death, and his mother has chosen 
this original plan in order to save his life. Ah, 



MOSES. 75 

beautiful princess ! thou little knowest to what thy 
warm, loving sympathies will lead thee. Of course 
the woman who put this little one here expect? 
some one to take care of it for lier. I will take 
him for my own, and call him Moses, "because J 
drew him out of the water." Dear little Moses, 
drawn out of ten thousand dangers by the fair, 
jeweled hand of the princess, you will yet live 
to draw your people out of their miseries, and 
lead them into a land flowing with milk and 
honey. 

At this auspicious moment the quick-witted lit- 
tle Miriam came, and said. Let me call one of the 
Hebrew women to nurse him for vou. How^ indif- 
ferently she spoke ! That is what I call a master- 
stroke of policy, worthy of a woman. Yes, go, 
said the princess. How her little heart throbbed 
for joy as she ran to her mother! O mother, 
mother! the princess has found our baby — is kiss- 
ing and playing with him — and she has sent me to 
call a nurse, and I have come for you. O mother, 
come on ! How happy I am ! No longer the proper 
Miss Miriam, suggesting so indifierently a nurse, 
but the daughter and sister, rejoicing under a great 
trial successfully passed — the shadoAV of a bloody 
death passing over, and nothing left but joy — and 
her few Words had their little influence in bringing 
it about. 



76 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

She had no feeling of envy or jealousy as she 
thought of her beautiful brother being in the pal- 
ace day after day, and of his having all the luxu- 
ries and refinements of Egyptian life, while Aaro]i 
must, as soon as old enough, toil on and on, daily 
making the tale of the bricks, with or without straw. 
Another drop in her cup of joy was, that mother 
could instill into his young heart her own precious 
faith, and she too could tell him stories of Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob ; then too they could teach 
the little prince of the great Saviour to come. Ah ! 
might he not be the great deliverer himself — the 
promised one? 

No doubt one could have heard the beatings of 
Jochebed's heart as it thumped violently against her 
coarse clothing. But down, happiness ! She must 
appear unconcerned. The princess said, "Take 
this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will 
give thee thy wages." Glorious privilege ! — nurse 
her own son, and then receive wages for it ! Surely 
Jochebed felt that her faith in God was richly re- 
warded. It did not take many words to complete 
this transaction. Jochebed took the child, and 
did not quarrel about the price she was to receive 
for her love-task. 

Carrying the little boy home, Jochebed again 
knelt, and said, O God of my fathers, faith has 
triumphed! I thank thee. Take him, and make 



MOSES. 77 

him all thine own. Use him for thy glory, and to 
my fathers' God be all the praise. 

Dear Jochebed, we hope that thou didst live to 
see the thunderings and lightnings from Sinai's 
rugged brow^that thou didst eat quails and man- 
na in the wilderness. And we hope that thou 
didst not — no, we will not believe that thou didst— 
countenance Aaron's idolatry; but while he, with 
his wicked followers, were dancing around the 
golden calf, thy prayers were mingling and ascend- 
ing with those of Moses to the great white throne 
whereon sitteth a covenant-keeping Grod. 

Jochebed carried Moses, at an early age, to the 
princess to be educated. Accordingly he was placed 
at school, under the best masters, where he learned 
letter-writing, grammar, spelling, composition, mak- 
ing verses,, and astronomy, logic, and perhaps as- 
trology and the mathematics. In his education he 
was thorough. The Pentateuch is to-day, in this 
boasted age of learning, one of the finest books on 
earth, aside from its divine character. Moses's 
liabits were good; "he sowed no wild oats," drank 
no whisky, played no eucher, and, I make bold to 
assert, used no tobacco. These are the fashionable 
vices of the present day. Of course, people in 
that age of the world did not have them; but fast 
young men had their bad habits, perhaps worse than 
tliose of our day. Had Moses been a lazy boy or 



78 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

miin, or had he been vicious, "his eye would have 
been dimmed, and his natural force abated."' He 
could not possibly have accomplished his grand 
life-work. Bad habits, wicked tempers, extrava- 
gance, violating known laws — morally, physically, 
and mentally — make us old. We worry ourselves 
into ill-health and old age over the inevitable. 

The character of Moses is one of the grandest 
that ever illuminated the pages of history. He 
stands preeminent in justice, wisdom, modesty, pa- 
tience — in fact, he had all the elements of a per- 
fect manly character. When, in early life, with a 
crown sparkling above his head, the heir to the 
proudest and most prosperous of earthly thrones, 
he chose, of his own free will, " to suffer with the 
people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season," therefore forsaking the grandeur 
of the court of Pharaoh, he returned to his people, 
choosing poverty and God in preference to riches 
and idolatry. When did the world ever look on 
so noble an act ? and when was noble act so nobly 
rewarded? 

Moses lives to-day in all the purity of his brave 
young manhood, and, when time shall be no more, 
he will still be in the spring-lime of life, while the 
Pharaohs have long since gone to "their own 
place," and we know nothing of them, only as 
Moses tells us, 



MOSES. 79 

In forsaking the halls of idolatry, and going to 
the huts of wretchedness, to please God, he proves 
his bravery sufficiently ; therefore we will not speak 
of his defense of his people against the tyranny of 
their oppressors, but will draw a short moral from 
his life. Our cherished doctrine of God's provi- 
dence over little things is beautifully illustrated in 
every step of the life of this blessed man. 

Surely the Spirit of the living God must have 
dwelt in mighty power in the heart of Jochebed, 
or she never could have intrusted this precious 
treasure in so frail a bark on the river, there to be 
exposed to so many dangers. It did look like throw- 
ing him away. He was a little baby, but not too 
small to find a resting-place beneath the omniscient 
eye of Jehovah. A very slight breeze could have 
loosed the little bark from its moorings, and sent 
him down the river to starve, or sink, or be devoured 
by the venomous reptiles that infest that region. 
That little breeze did not come ; if it did, it sim- 
ply fanned baby into a more healthful slumber. 
The sun, pouring down his steel rays, might have 
stricken the brain, but it did not — it simply warmed 
and lightened his little home, casting a prettier 
flush on his face. The great danger, it seems to 
me, was the crocodiles, so numerous at that time ; 
but they did not touch him. 

From this circumstance some Sunday-school 



80 CHILDREN 01^ THE BIBLE. 

workers have argued that there were no reptiles in 
the river at that time, or they would have enjoyed 
the "goodly child" in a manner far different from 
the princess' enjoyment. God's great scheme was 
involved, and nothing on earth cauld touch him. 
Those wicked persecutors might have taken his 
life, but the ministering spirits formed themselves, 
at God's command, into a solid wall around that 
basket that nothing could overleap. The holy 
trmity of a mother's faith, love, and prayer, had 
purified the very atmosphere of the place, so that 
the sleeping infant was positively death-proof. 

When our God protects us, we need not fear. 
The lions are never in the path of duty, but close 
beside it. There is nothing in our path but the 
cross, and, as we take it up in our Master's name, 
bright rays of sparkling beauty begin to fly out of 
it, and, ere we are aware, it has changed into the 
glittering crown of eternal life. Were Satan to 
come in all his majestic blackness, with forked tail, 
cloven foot, and tongue of fire, the smallest little 
one who loves God need not fear, for with one word 
of five letters (Jesus) he can drive back all the 
fiery darts of the wicked one. Then, my dear 
boys, you are not too small for God to see you, no 
matter if mamma is poor, and papa is a drunkard, 
and your clothes are torn, and feet bare. You are 
under the care of the God of little Moses. Then 



MOSES. 81 

love him, not as a far-off something, but as an 
ever-present Saviour, who sees and will punish that 
little cheating act of yours, who rejoices with you 
over every trial successfully passed, and who will 
call you to an account for every sinful thought, 
word, and act. 

Be like Moses — brave, gentle, just, patient — 
above all, be faithful "unto death '^ to the Jesus 
who bought you with his own blood. Never fear 
any thing but sin ; and if Satan himself comes to 
fight you, as he will at every turn in life, buckle 
on the whole armor of God, and fight him face to 
face. If he gets you down, get up, and, under the 
blood-stained banner of King Immanuel, fight him 
again, and in the end God will receive you to him- 
self, amidst the hallelujahs of all the redeemed of 
earth, and crown you his forever, and in eternity 
you will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. 
6 



NAMELESS. 



"We know not what a day nor an hour may brins: 
forth." 

" A ND Samson said unto the lad that held him 
-^lTJl. by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the 
pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may- 
lean upon them." 

Poor, tired man! well he needed something 
strong to lean upon. 

Once upon a time there was among the Israelites, 
of the tribe of Dan, a very strong man named 
Samson, one of the most romantic characters of 
the Bible. Did it come within the scope of this 
volume, many stories of wild adventure might be 
told about this great man. He was, on some occa- 
sions, badly treated by both friends and enemies. 
He did some great works for God requiring almost 
superhuman brute force. His purity of character 
is doubtful ; but it requires many kinds of people 
to make a world, and a Samson in his place is as 
necessary as a Moses and a Samuel in their places. 
He was raised up by God to do a certain work, and 
he accomplished it. His life was a success, as the 

(82) 



NAMELESS. 83 

apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, mentions 
his name among other worthies who did wonderful 
things through faith. He was the last judge of 
Israel, and judged twenty years — was about forty- 
one at his death. 

On one occasion the Philistines were celebrating 
a great feast in honor of their god Dagon, who, as 
they thought, had delivered Samson into their 
hands some time previous. They had cruelly put 
out his eyes, bound him with fetters of brass, and 
compelled him to grind in their prison-house. His 
hair, which had been sheared through the instru- 
mentality of Delilah, had now grown out, and with 
it his strength had returned. Jhe lords and nobles 
of the land, with their wives and daughters, were 
assembled in the temple. While the merriment 
was at its height, some one proposed to have j)Oor 
Samson brought in to make sport for them. So he 
was led in by a little boy, or, as the Bible sa3^s, a 
lad, and placed in the center of the room, where 
he made sport for the company. I don't know the 
nature of these sports, or how a poor, blind man, 
who had spent some time in hard toil in a prison- 
house among enemies, could do any thing to amuse 
so large a crowd of spectators. But he did what 
was required of him. Finally, becoming fatigued, 
he asked the little boy to let him feel the pillars of 
the temple, that he might lean on them. The kind- 



84 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

hearted boy, willing to accommodate him, and fear- 
ing no evil, consented ; and Samson, thinking it a 
good time to be revenged, prayed to the Lord, and 
said, " O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and 
strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, 
that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines 
for my two eyes." 

Now, there were about three thousand men and 
women — no children mentioned, but I suppose 
there were some, as it is such a pity for so many to 
go into the presence of God without any to be 
saved eternally. Then Samson took hold of the 
two pillars, and leaned with all his might, and 
down came the building, crushing the last Hebrew 
judge, three thousand men and women, and the 
kind-hearted little boy, to death ; so that Samson, 
in his death, so bloody and terrible, slew more 
of the Lord's enemies than he ever did in his 
life. 

Sometimes a Christian's holy life seems to ac- 
complish little, but in the hour of death God sees 
fit to do more than in his life. Even so. Father, 
for so it seemeth good in thy sight. Living or dy- 
ing, let us glorify God. 

This is the most meager account of any of the 
children of the Bible, but I feel unwilling to leave 
out a single one; therefore I wrote this because 
Samson's leader was a Bible-child — because he did 



NAMELESS. 85 

a kindness for one of God's afflicted ones. God 
never forgets or fails to reward the giver of a 
cup of cold water in his name. No one knows 
whether this boy was a relative of Samson or a 
Philistine — perhaps the latter. He seems to have 
been kind and accommodating, otherwise he would 
have refused the simple request of the poor, blind 
man. 

What a contrast between his kindness and the 
hard-hearted malignity of the haughty lords of 
the Philistines ! He was sorry for the tired man. 
Ah ! little did he know, when he agreed to that 
seemingly small request, that the black -winged 
angel of death was in the atmosphere, ready, with 
one fell swoop, to gather up the whole crowd. How 
little he dreamed that in a few" moments he would 
lie a mangled mass of flesh, and blood, and bones, 
«so near the man he so generously favored! He 
little thought his young soul would go up to the 
God of Samson amid the shrieks of horror — the 
wails of the dying — but such w^as the case. I hope 
he was too young to be lost. I hope the dying 
moments of the departing Samson were spent in 
asking a blessing on him. God grant that the per- 
secuted judge and innocent boy together were borne 
on the broad, white wings of sympathizing angels 
to the home of the blest ! 

As death may come to us as suddenly, and in as 



86 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



unwelcome a form, let us keep ready, for "in such 
an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." 
O that we may be always ready ! and the only way 
to prepare for death is to lead a holy life, hid with 
Christ in God. 



SAMUEL 



"Feed my lambs." 

ELKANAH and Hannah had been married 
several years, but Hannah had no children ; 
so, in spite of the worthy portion of this world's 
goods given to her by her husband, there was a 
void in her heart that would not be entirely filled 
by his love. It cried out in vain for the sound of 
baby laughter and the noise of merry feet. But 
there was no baby face to kiss, no little bed to 
kneel by, and ask God's blessing on the curly 
heads nestling there. Hannah served God faith- 
fully, and went regularly to the temple once a 
year to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Once, 
while there, she prayed for a son, in this manner- 
"O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon 
the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember 
me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give 
unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give 
him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and 
there shall no razor come upon his head." 

Forgetful of self in the earnestness and intensity 
of her prayer, her anxious heart moved her uncon- 

(87) 



68 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

scious lips; and Eli, the priest, seeing this, ai/d 
knowing not the circumstances, accused her of 
drunkenness; but she answered, "No, my lord, I 
am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have drunk 
neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out 
my soul before the Lord. Count not thine hand- 
maid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abun- 
dance of my complaint and grief have I spoken 
hitherto." Eli said, " Go in peace, and the God of 
Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked 
of him." 

In the fullness of time her prayer was answered. 
God gave her a son, and she called his name Sam- 
uel, because she had asked him of the Lord. When 
the little boy was a few weeks old, Elkanah and 
his household went up to Shiloh to worship ; " but 
Hannah went not up; for she said unto her hus- 
band, I will not go up until the child be weaned, 
and then I will bring him, that he may appear be- 
fore the Lord, and there abide forever." For this 
noble act of consecration God gave Hannah other 
sons and daughters, and she was happy in her chil- 
dren, her husband, and her God. 

Was there ever any thing more beautiful than 
this? Not even Abraham's sacrifice, tender and 
touching as it was, could equal this. In his case 
the suffering would soon have been over, leaving, 
in the course of time, a happy sorrow. In Han- 



SAMUEL. 89 

nah's case tlie sacrifice was far more diflScult to 
make. How she must have mourned when slie 
thought of her precious boy growing up so near 
the wicked sons of Eli! Hannah knew that the 
influence of bad company is the greatest snare that 
Satan can weave around God's people. But " when 
thy father and thy mother forsake thee, then the 
Lord will take thee up." 

God sent his angel to guard the little boy, and 
he grew to be an old man, never having willfully 
sinned. He had no need of conversion, as he had 
no sins to be pardoned. He was born, and lived 
to man's estate, in a state of salvation. 

Some will say, then. Why need our children be 
converted ? Yes, why need they ? Simply because 
we, as teachers and parents, by our carelessnesfc, 
prayerlessness, and fashionableness, allow them to 
go into actual transgression. Parents can, and 
some do, by simple faith in God, keep their little 
ones so close to the cross of Christ that from their 
very birth they have the blood of Calvary contin- 
ually flowing over their souls ; and they grow up, 
live, and die, without the great agonies of repent- 
ance, and they know only the joys of converting 
grace. It is not necessary for a child to go away 
into sin. If a thing is very much soiled, it needs 
a great deal of cleansing. A child's soul cannot 
possibly be as deeply dyed in sin as a man's, conse- 



90 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

quently he does not need as much grace. God will 
not allow his grace to be wasted by us, rich and 
boundless as it is. 

"iSo the woman [Hannah] abode, and gave her 
son suck until she weaned him. And when she 
had weaned him, she took him up with her, with 
three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bot- 
tle of wine, and brought him unto the house of 
the Lord in Shiloh ; and the child was young. And 
they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 
And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my 
lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, 
praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; 
and the Lord hath given me my petition which I 
asked of him; therefore also I have lent him to 
the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent 
to the Lord. And he [little Samuel] worshiped 
the Lord there." Then Hannah went home, and 
Samuel "did minister unto the Lord before Eli, 
the priest." 

I wonder how he worshiped. I wonder if he 
knelt down, and folded two little dimpled hands, 
clDsed two blue eyes, and said, "Now I lay me 
down to sleep ; God bless papa and mamma, and 
make me a good boy, for Jesus' sake. Amen." 

Now, one of you little ones are saying. What a 
funny mistake in this book ! There was no Jesus 
when Samuel lived — he had not come. That is 



SAMUEL. 91 

right, little boy or girl : investigate matters — study 
for yourself. The Holy Spirit will enlighten your 
minds better than friend or minister. But Samuel 
worshiped the same Jesus in Shiloh that you woi- 
ship in your homes, only he looked forward to his 
coming — you look backward — the same "Jesus yes- 
terday, to-day, and forever." The robe of flesh did 
not change the divinity. 

Now Eli's sons were very wicked, and sinned be- 
fore God exceedingly. But Samuel grew in favor 
with God and man. How beautifully those words 
express the growth of another child who went up 
to the temple to worship, and, when grown, became 
the temple's self, in whom all th^ world might find 
a holy of holies — a refuge from every storm ! 

Samuel grew from infancy to manhood among 
those dark-souled, bad sons of Eli, without a single 
willful sin. His mother made him a little coat 
every year, and brought it to him when she came 
up with her husband to ofier the yearly sacrifice. 
I do n't know if this coat was the linen ephod worn 
by the priests when they ministered in the temple. 

How like a golden thread of glittering beauty 
running through black serge shines the beautiful 
life of little Samuel! Mothers, have you given 
your children to God? renounced every claim to 
them? and do you stand ready to give them back 
to him at any time? Are you praying and strug- 



^2 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

gliiig for their souls' salvation? Or are you most 
interested in how you shall decorate their perishing 
bodies ? Are you striving to polish a living stone, 
fit to be placed in the wall of the eternal building 
in heaven? 

When Samuel was a little boy, while he minis- 
tered in the temple before Eli, ere the lamp of God 
went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark 
of God was, Samuel lay down to sleep on his little 
bed, in the outer court of the temple; and the 
Lord called Samuel, and he answered him (sup- 
posing it to be the priest), and said, Here am I; 
and he ran to Eli. Eli told him that he had not 
called. Samuel lay down again, and in the dark- 
ness again came the voice, "Samuel." He went 
to Eli once more, saying, "Here am I; for thou 
didst call me." The third time he was called he 
made the same reply ; so Eli told him, if the voice 
came again, to say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant 
heareth." Samuel did so, and the Lord said to 
him, " Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which 
both the ears of every one that heareth it shall 
tingle." And then he told Samuel the punishment 
he intended to let fall upon the people for their 
idolatry, and that Eli's wicked sons should perish. 

The child Samuel grew on, like a beautiful 
stream of limpid water, as it makes its way out of 
the rock — first a few drops of crystal coolness, then 



SAMUEL. 93 

it gathers strength, and runs on and on, through 
meadows, fields, and mountains, never ceasing to 
run, and sparkle, and reflect the rays of the sun 
perfectly, adding fertility to the soil, deepening^ 
widening, receiving other streams, until it is a 
mighty river, filled with fish for the nourishment 
of man, gives its waters to the sun to cause 
rain to water the parched earth, eternally giving, 
eternally progressing, until it reaches the great 
ocean. This is an exact picture of the life of lit- 
tle Samuel as he began his life in Eamah : then 
the stream ran for awhile, with its health-giving 
influences, through the quiet coolness of the tem- 
ple, then from there out into the nation, then on- 
ward until even now we are made better by the 
life then lived. 

After the death of Eli, Samuel, still young, be- 
came to the nation what steam is to the steam-boat 
or locomotive — what the mainspring is to the watch, 
or blood to the human body — the chief mover, the 
soul of the nation, the one man on whom hung the 
well-being of the whole nation. At an early age 
he was firmly established as judge of the people, 
and we find him, Jacob-like, wrestling and pre- 
vailing with God in prayer, while the Philistines 
were driven before the people, the to^vns retaken, 
and prosperity fell upon the land like the gentle 
dews of heaven. 



94 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

"Behold, how great a matter a little fire kin' 
dleth." This glowing live coal, laid on the altar 
by a loving, faithful mother, one who loved God 
better than all the world, was accepted of God, 
fanned by the Holy Spirit into a flame, and behold 
the great fire of holy influence kindled throughout 
the nation ! 

Samuers God is our God, and if we give our- 
selves to him in early life, just as we are, he will 
accept and bless us, and we too may make the 
world better, and assist in bringing the nations of 
earth to his feet. God bless every little Samuel 
who leads these lines, and may they all be conse- 
crated Samuels, living "lives hid with Christ in 
God!" 



DAVID. 



" He that hiimbleth himself shall be exalted." 

DAVID was the second king of Israel. His 
father's name was Jesse. His first appear- 
ance on the page of history occurs when he is quite 
a large boy. Samuel, the great prophet of Israel, 
was directed by the Holy Spirit to go to the house 
of Jesse, and anoint one of bis sons — that is, pour 
the oil of consecration on his bead, sbowing that be 
was to be king over the people. Jesse was a de- 
scendant of the tribe of Judah, and was a shepherd, 
living with bis wife and children in an bumble way 
in the city of Bethlehem, situated about six miles 
from Jerusalem. Samuel at first refused to go, fear- 
ing that Saul, the ruling monarch, would kill bim. 
So the Spirit commanded bim to go to Bethlehem, 
and ofier a sacrifice unto God, and invite Jesse and 
bis sons to the feast, after which be was to cause the 
sons of Jesse to pass before bim in succession, be- 
ginning with the eldest. It is sometimes necessary 
to use a little policy in order to save a soul. Con- 
secrated policy is an excellent thing. The Spirit 
advised Samuel not to look on the countenance oi 

(95) 



96 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

i^tature, as God sees the heart, and not with the 
eyes of man. 

Outward adornment is nothing, only as it serves 
as an index to some virtue within the soul. If a 
woman wears finery to satisfy a selfish desire, it is 
sin ; if she wears it in order to please the eyes of 
those who love her, it is a virtue. Good and evil are 
simple heart-principles, that God sees. 

Trusting alone in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
Samuel went, carrying with him the horn of anoint 
ing, and the heifer for the sacrifice. The elders of 
the town were alarmed at his coming. It seems, 
from these words, that the appearance of this holy 
man was an evil omen. He informed them that 
his was a peaceable errand. 

After sanctifying Jesse and his sons, he invited 
them to the feast, explained his business more fully, 
and asked Jesse to cause his sons to pass before him, 
beginning with the eldest. Eliab slowly passed by. 
Samuel said in his heart, as he saw his majestic 
form, and thought of the once handsome Saul, 
" Surely the Lord's anointed is before him." The 
Holy Spirit was silent. Samuel, disappointed, 
called the next one, Abinadab, then Sham^mah, 
*-,hen another, and another, till seven of them had 
»assed. Now completely nonplused, he looked up, 
and said, "Are here all thy children?" Jesse re- 
plied, "There remaineth yet the youngest, and, be- 



DAVID. 97 

hold, he keepeth the sheep" — as much as to say, 
David is out among the hills, with the flocks and 
herds. He is a very good sort of boy — mother's 
darling — but — . Ah! we have all seen many of 
those boys — positive jewels, rich and rare; but for 
some cause parents fail to appreciate their value 
until, too often, the grave has closed over them. 
There are many Davids to-day, feeding their flocks, 
and, for the lack of a Samuel, with the consecrat- 
ing oil of kindly encouragement, they remain in 
obscurity till Jesus makes up his jewels, when they 
will shine with unfading luster in the eternal coro- 
net of the King of kings. 

Samuel would not partake of the feast till he had 
obeyed the voice of God, and anointed the new 
king. So David was sent for. He came, over- 
come with surprise, modesty, and pleasure. He 
knew of Samuel — no man in the nation was so well 
known. The beautiful boy came tremblingly to- 
ward him. He knew that the prophet never made 
meaningless visits. This was the greatest event of 
David's hitherto quiet life. As the bright, rosy- 
cheeked boy came, so young and innocent — for his 
mode of life was freer from vice than that of oth- 
ers — the Spirit quickly whispered, "Arise, anoint 
him." "With the morning-dew still glittering on 
his golden curls, and the odor of wild flowers cling- 
ing to his garments, his heart more on the little 

7 



98 CHILDREN QF THE BIBLE. 

Iambs he had left than on the present ceremonies, 
he stands before the prophet, the very incarnation 
of youthful health, beauty, and virtue. I wonder 
if Samuel thought of his own young days — how he 
was once a hahy-priest — as now he anoints a boy- 
king. Does he look down the stream of time, with 
prophetic eye, and see another Anointed One, with 
the Holy Ghost like a dove descending on him ? 

I wish I were an artist long enough to paint this 
scene. I wish I could, with this pen and ink, draw 
it upon the mind's picture-gallery of every child 
who reads this, with all the bright, glowing color- 
ing with which I see it. I see the smile of con- 
tempt that wreathes the otherwise beautiful mouth 
of the handsome Eliab, and I see the answering 
smile on the lips of the brothers. The old gentle- 
man looks — ^well, I suppose, quizzical. He wonders 
why the hoy should be the chosen one, and he is 
proud of the distinction conferred on the family. 
His face wears an undecided expression. All watch 
with intense interest the oil of consecration falling 
so gently on the soft, curling hair of the modest 
David. Then " the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
David from that day forward.''* 

■^ Eight here I expect the most cutting criticism. Every 
little Johnnie, and Jimraie, and Willie, that I ever taught, 
will pass his puny sentence on these words. He will say 
David was a great sinner, and did thus and so. As Sun* 



DAVID. 99 

As soon as these ceremonies were over, he re- 
turned to his flocks, taking no less, or better, care 
of them than ever, not one bit spoiled by the high 
honor conferred on him. Thus it ever is with really 
great minds. Pride and vanity find no place in 
consecrated hearts, No earthly distinction can ele- 
vate a heaven-born soul. David remained feeding 
his sheep by the still waters and in green pastures, 
until called from his obscurity by the miserable, 
God - forsaken, old king, to play on his harp to 
charm away the evil spirit that tormented him. 
Subsequently he became armor-bearer to the king. 
One of Saul's servants describes David as follows: 
" Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethle- 

d ay-school workers, many feel called of God (?) in this age 
of investigation to the work of digging from his grave, 
with sacrilegious hand, the old "man after God's own 
heart," laying bare his most secret sins, and then coolly 
judge him by our law, the Gospel of Christ. We forget 
the age in which he lived ; that he had no Star in the east 
to illumine his pathway, no Baby Jesus to love, no Boy in 
the temple about the Father's business — the salvation oi 
souls — no descending Dove, no pentecostal tongues of fire, 
no NcAv Testament miracles, no resurrection and ascension. 
Shame on those teachers who, forgetful of David's ten 
thousand virtues, deal so harshly with his few sins, while 
morality was yet in its infancy ! Their pupils may be 
guilty of worse sins than David's, for they sometimes deny 
the whole plan of salvation, or fail to avail themselves 
of it. 



100 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

hemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty 
valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in 
matters, and the Lord is with him." What a rec- 
ommendation ! Is there any thing more he could 
have said? Good blood, musical talent, brave, 
prudent, beautiful, persevering, and under the di- 
rect control of God. Like Enoch's biography, it is 
absolutely perfect. To add one word more would 
be "to paint the lily, or throw a perfume 'on the 
violet." It may be that none of us will ever rise to 
his standard of excellence ; but all can, and must, 
possess his chief virtue — " and the Lord is with 
him." 

While David was feeding his sheep beside the 
still waters and in green pastures, near the city of 
Bethlehem, after his private anointing, the Israel- 
ites, with Saul at their head, were fighting the Phil- 
istines. Goliath was a huge giant, as high as some 
of our houses, perhaps — "six cubits and a span" — 
and large in proportion. "The staff of his spear 
was like a weaver's beam," and he had a helmet of 
bj*ass upon his head, and was armed with a coat of 
faail. Thick plates of brass covered his tremen- 
dous limbs. As he stood incased from head to foot 
in a metal hard enough to turn or break the spears 
that struck it, he roared defiance against the hosts 
of Israel. The soldiers fled in terror at the sight. 
No wonder ! A mighty image of brass in front of 



DAVID. 101 

them, and no living God, no loving Father, behind 
them. The army was now covered with the black 
drapery of despair. 

David, who had been sent to the camp by his 
father, with food for his three brothers, then in the 
army of Saul, was filled with indignation on hear- 
ing the vaunting defiance of the gigantic Philistine. 
He offered his services to the king, only to be ridi- 
culed by his own brothers. Truly, " a prophet hath 
no honor in his own country." "Pshaw! non- 
sense!" said Saul. "You are a boy. Very well 
for you to feed sheep, and play on a harp ! The 
very idea of you fighting a giant is absurd. Go 
back to your sheep, my boy." We reason just this 
way now, often denying the possibility of a child 
leading a soul to Jesus. David replied, blushing 
and trembling as he spoke : " Thy servant kept his 
father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, 
and took a lamb out of the flock ; and I went out 
after him, and smote him. . . . Thy servant slew 
both the lion and the bear ; and this uncircumcised 
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath 
defied the armies of the living God." David would 
have made a good lawyer, as well as prophet and 
king. Saul, in despair, feeling that all was lost in 
any event, consented to let him fight ; so he sent 
for his armor. David tried it on, and finding it so 
large and hea^^^, he pulled it off, and put on instead 



102 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

the whole armor of God. That armor, forged by 
Jesus himself on the anvils of heaven, fitted him. 

What a strange armor that is, which fits all kinds 
of people, and never wears oi;it, or needs mending ! 
The boy David wore it; the king David, in the 
height of his power, wore it. Paul, baby Samuel, 
lovely Ruth, gentle Esther, and little Abijah, wore 
it right into heaven, though the latter was related 
to "Nebat's son, who caused the land to sin." The 
great and the good of all nations, races, and condi- 
tions of life, have fought with it on, and never in 
all the world's history has one been conquered. 
David was clad with the breastplate of righteous- 
ness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, 
his loins girt about with truth, the shield of faith, 
and his feet were shod with a preparation of the 
gospel of peace. 

Thus equipped, fully armed except the back — no 
armor has ever been forged for the Christian's back 
— he started off*, with his shepherd's stafl" and sling. 
Ci'ossing a brook, he stopped and picked up five 
small, smooth stones, and went forward to meet the 
enemv that had been the terror of all Israel for so 
many years. Goliath was very indignant at the 
king for sending a boy to fight him. David walked 
on, seemingly careless of the fierce word^ that were 
falling from the haughty lips of the king of Gath, 
He was not one bit afraid. 



DAVID. 103 

He felt the everlasting arms of Omnipotence 
around him. God's people press up to him, and 
are always brave in times of r^al danger. Only 
those whose knees have bowed to Baal, wdio stoop 
to drink at the muddy waters of earthly pleasures 
when the war-cry is heard, prove to be cowards in 
danger. David knew, as w^e all do, that the angel 
of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear 
him. 

Tremblingly we await the result of this seemingly 
unequal contest, as the fearless boy advances nearer 
and nearer the terror of his nation and the insulter 
of his God. Coming within the proper distance, 
David put one of the stones in his sling, and with 
that arm of weakness cast it at Goliath's head. 
Whizz ! went that little pebble through the air, car- 
rying death and eternal torment with it, as, directed 
by the Spirit of God, it struck the giant on the 
forehead, killing him dead, because he defied the ar- 
mies of the living God ! Boys, do you belong to that 
army? Then, be valiant soldiers, • and God will 
take care of you. David then ran forward, and, 
with Goliath's own sword, cut off his head, and car 
ried it to the king. 

A mere boy, this time, was Israel's deliverer. 
While conversing with Saul, with the great head 
of Goliath, dripping wdth blood, in his hand, Jona- 
than, the valiant son of Saul, sitting near, "it came 



10 1: CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

to pass that when he had made an end of speaking 
unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with 
the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his 
own soul/' Love at first-sight, truly ! Who that 
reads this charming history can say there is no such 
thing as love at first-sight? and, as we read on, we 
find that friendship is as enduring as the soul itself, 
when founded on principle. This is an account of 
the most beautiful friendship on record. 

The poor, persecuted, shepherd-boy, with God's 
private trade-mark on his forehead, running for his 
life, and the brave, successful young warrior, son of 
a king, who knows, and sheds secret tears at, his 
coming dethronement by the shepherd-boy friend, 
is a fine subject for a poem. If every Goliath 
among us could meet his David, what a good time 
we would have! Blasphemy, profanity, irrever- 
ence, extravagance, intemperance, and infidelity, 
are among the growing evils of the day. A brave 
boy, who loves his mother and his God, will never, 
under any circumstances, poison the atmosphere, 
stain his soul, or insult his fellow-man, by using an 
oath. Is there not some David dreaming his life 
away amid the violets, who will invent some way of 
ridding the world of these Goliaths, who are defy- 
ing the armies of the living God? 

If one boy is made to stop, think, and forever 
forsake sin, then this little book has not been writ- 



i)AviD. 105 

ten in vain. David's weakness was his strength. 
By taking the smooth, round stones of prayer, pa- 
tience, perseverance, faith, and love, we can fight 
successfully against the giant sin in all his Protean 
forms. We cannot enter the secret chambers of 
the mind of God, and see why the child David, 
fresh from the sheep-fold, was chosen, appointed, 
and anointed, in the court of heaven, to succeed 
the brilliant, misguided Saul. Free grace alone 
chose him, not for what he had done, but for the 
mighty possibilities lying folded from the eye of 
man under the modest garb of the unassuming 
young shepherd-boy* (For a fiill history of this 
noble youth, see 1 Sam. xvi.) 



AN OBEDIENT BOY. 



"Obedience is better than sacrifice." 

DAVID, the son of Jesse, who had been secretly 
anointed king by the Prophet Samuel, was 
chosen by Saul to play on his harp, to charm away 
the evil spirit that tormented him. Saul, who was 
jealous of David, soon began to treat him at one 
time with kindness, then again with great cruelty, 
often trying to take his life, while professing the 
greatest love for him. Once David unconsciously 
offended his master, and had to run for life. Fort- 
unately he had a sincere friend at court to plead 
his cause, and through his influence the life of 
David was often saved. A friend at court ! Ah ! 
the Christian has a friend at the court of infinite jus- 
tice — an " advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous." 

This time David discovered that he had offended 
his royal master before Jonathan did, and, in a 
private interview, informed him of the fact. Jon- 
athan, through filial love, denied it, but David in- 
sisted. He said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy 
soul liveth, there is but a step between me and 

(106) 



AN OBEDIENT BOY. 107 

death." David then requested Jonathan to watch 
his father carefully, and if he noticed "the vacant 
chair," and made inquiries about it, to say that he 
asked permission of him to go home to keep a feast 
at the request of his brother — if evil was intend- 
ed, to let him know. Jonathan said he would go 
out in the field with his bow and arrows, and pre- 
tend to shoot at a mark. He would take a little 
boy with him to pick up his arrows, and, said he, 
if I say to the lad, " The arrows are on this side of 
thee," then all is well — my father is not angry ; 
but if I say, " The arrows are beyond thee," then 
you will know that evil is intended; but remem- 
ber, by the sacredness of our love, when your ene- 
mies are cut off, or turned into friends, and I, it 
may be, am numbered with Israel's dead, O forget 
not to show kindness to my loved ones! David 
again repeated the promise, w^hich he so faithfully 
kept in after-years, when, on the topmost wave of 
prosperity, he sought out and provided for the 
poor, afflicted Mephibosheth, the only son of his 
true friend Jonathan. 

The next day Saul missed David, but said noth- 
ing, and again the next; on the third he made in- 
quiries. Jonathan repeated what David said con- 
cerning the feast, and had a javelin thrown at him 
for his fidelity. In the evening, according to agree- 
ment, Jonathan took his bows and arrows, and. 



108 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

attended by a little boy, went out in the field back 
of the city, and began shooting by way of prac- 
tice, aj?pare7iUy. O that' we had as good a cause 
for our apparentlies! The little boy looked on 
without comment, watching the arrows in their 
flight, and enjoying the pure, fresh air, perhaps 
glad to get away from some simple home-duty that 
his mother required of him. 

David had concealed himself near the stone 
Ezel. Jonathan shot several times, then, seeming 
to be weary, he cried out in a loud voice to the 
little lad, "Is not the arrow beyond thee? Make 
speed, haste, stay not." The child, perhaps aston- 
ished at the urgent command, obeyed immediately, 
and, hunting in the grass, he soon found the ar- 
rows, and brought them to his master. Jonathan 
then sent him home with his artillery, or bows and 
arrows, all unconscious that partly through his tiny 
influence the life of the greatest man of the nation 
had been saved, and the gracious designs of God 
partly accomplished. Jonathan might have hunt- 
ed his own arrows, and still God's purposes might 
have remained unchanged. I am glad he did not, as 
I should have been deprived the pleasure of writing 
this chapter, and you, dear children, the profit (?) 
of reading it. 

After the boy's departure, poor David came 
from his hiding-place. Then followed one of those 



AN OBEDIENT BOY. 109 

painfully delightful intervieAVS between the young 
prince and his humble friend which make the life 
of both so rich and beautiful. , Cancel Jonathan's 
from David's life, and, alas ! we have no King Da- 
vid, for that life was saved several times by Jona- 
than. Take David out of Jonathan's life, and its 
chief beauty is gone. 

Children, I may be low and groveling in my 
tastes, calling on my little girl-readers to follow 
the example of Naaman's little servant-girl, and 
now on my boys to learn a lesson of obedience 
from Jonathan's servant, instead of pointing to 
some illustrious prince. But we cannot learn the 
greatest lesson of life (obedience) too well, and for 
us the smallest, most insignificant things are im- 
portant. Every falling leaf, every glittering dew- 
drop, has a lesson of decay and brightness for us. 
The simple falling of an apple from a tree was a 
subject grand enough to engage the mind of one of 
earth's mightiest. The child-like giant. Sir Isaac 
Newton, the great high-priest of nature, did not 
disdain to spend weeks, perhaps years, over a fall- 
ing apple. 

Can we not learn somethins: of the value of 
prompt, cheerful obedience? This child performed 
his mission well. He asked no questions — did not 
walk around gazing vacantly on the surrounding 
scenery. He did not run away to chunk a bird , o j 



110 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

catch a butterfly, as some of you would have done. 
He did not ask questions at the rate of forty per 
minute, as some little girls I know would have 
asked them. No ; he watched the arrows as they 
cut their way through the thin air in their rapid 
flight, and saw where they fell, and, at a word from 
Jonathan, like one of those arrows, he flew straight 
forward, and found them. He literally obeyed the 
command, "Haste, stay not." Having found them 
all, he returned to his master, who commanded him 
to take them home. He did so immediately, not 
waiting to see if any one was coming, or if Jona- 
than had any thing more to say. He understood 
his business — attended to it, then went home. He 
was an obedient, nice little boy. What a China 
missionary he would have made, had he lived in our 
country! When he heard, in his inner conscious- 
ness, the still small voice of God, saying, Go preach 
my gospel, how he would have "made speed, hasted, 
stayed not ! " When he heard God saying "Arise, 
shine," how he would have trimmed his taper, and 
shojie on the dark fields of heathen lands! Har- 
vest-time over, how promptly he would have brought 
in his sheaves, even precious souls won for Christ ! 
What a light shining in darkness he would have 
been! He richly deserves this passing notice, the 
only one I ever saw of him. I only wish his name 
had not been lost in the deep waters of oblivion. 



AN OBEDIENT BOY. Ill 

If he was not an actual link in the cham of fort- 
unes, or misfortunes, rather, of King David, he 
was the shine, the glitter, on those links, making 
the history of that wonderful man more wonderful. 
Curiosity, laziness, or tattle, would have brought 
destruction on the young shepherd-king, in spite 
of all Jonathan's precautions. God, however, had 
wisely directed Jonathan in the choice of the boy. 
This child, in his humility and ignorance, reminds 
me of another child, who assisted Jesus to perform 
a miracle by the loan of a basket of fishes. One, 
perhaps, saved the lives of a hungry multitude; 
the other saved the life of David, through whom 
that Jesus was to descend and feed that multitude. 
Both of these boys are without a name in the 
Bible. 

We can either cooperate with God, and increase 
his glory, and add to our eternal happiness by do- 
ing his will, or we can cross his purposes, and ma<: 
his projects so far, but the grand object shall b^ 
fulfilled. O that we may ever glorify him on 
earth, by hasting to do his holy will! 



ONL^ A BABY. 



**I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 
2 Sam. xii. 23. 

"TXT" AS it saved in heaven? Did the atone- 
V V ment cover its case? Most assuredly, for 
'' of such is the kingdom of heaven.'^ A tiny, lit- 
tle boy, too young to have his name recorded in 
history, or carved on monumental marble — yea, 
too young to belong to the synagogue — only seven 
days of anguish and suiFering ! On the eighth day, 
the ministering angel who had presided at his birth, 
and hovered unseen in mid-air around the couch 
of the little sufferer, received from God the wel- 
come words, "It is enough." Then, gently disen- 
gaging the little spirit from its clay prison-house, 
and inclosing it in her loving arms, she spread her 
angelic pinions, and was soon far away beyond the 
murky regions of sorrow, in t le pure atmosphere, 
breathed only by God, his holy angels, and "the 
spirits of just men made perfect.'^ 

This child was the oldest son of David, king of 
Israel, and the beautiful Bath-sheba, ex-wife of 
Uriah. David knew that he would die when quite 

(112) 



ONLY A BABY. 113 

young. Nathan, the prophet, and adopted brother 
of the king, had gone to him a short time before 
its birth with a singular reproof, contained in a 
beautiful parable, in which he makes David un- 
consciously pass sentence on himself. The story is 
something like this : There was once a rich man, 
who had all that heart could desire. He had a 
friend who was very poor, possessing nothing on 
earth to love but one little ewe lamb. He fed and 
petted it, and at night it slept in his bosom. O 
how tenderly he loved it! By and by the rich 
man laid his covetous eyes on his poor friend's only 
possession, and made up his mind that he would 
have it. Finding no honorable way, he resorted 
to stratagem and meanness, and finally succeeded. 
Now, said Nathan, the rich man possesses the ewe 
lamb. 

David's indignation rose higher and higher as 
he heard the disgraceful story, and he began to 
swear, by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
that the man who dared do so vile a thing in his 
kingdom should die. Nathan, looking him calmly 
in the face, said, " Thou art the man." Your sin 
Was a private, personal matter, but it was sin, and 
as such it poisoned the moral atmosphere that sur- 
rounded your kingdom, and every soul is more or 
less a sufierer from the moral miasma of your act. 
Your punishment shall be before the eyes of all 
8 



114 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Israel. Sorrow and suffering sliall be your portion 
as long as you live. 

Boys, beware of even one sin ; a very small one 
(?) will sometimes darken a whole life-time, blight- 
ing every bud of hope as it spreads its opening 
petals in the heart. 

As you killed Uriah with a sword, that instru- 
ment of death shall never depart from your house. 
Your children and grandchildren shall be sources 
of sorrow to you. You may live, though you de- 
serve death, but the child shall die. 

Why put that little thing in a book? What 
did he ever do, except cry? Because that child, 
measuring its life by seven risings of the sun, ex- 
erted an influence over the affairs of men that no 
other human being ever did, except Jesus. Had 
he never seen the light, the most beautiful portion 
of the Psalms would never have been written. 
Millions now praising God in heaven would have 
gone down to the regions of endless woe but for 
these magnificent photographed pulsations of the 
heart of David. He had sunk to the lowest depths 
of degradation for the sake of this child ; now its 
death brought him, a penitent, to the feet of Infi- 
nite Mercy. Now, having sinned and suffered so 
deeply, he knew how to feel for the tried and af- 
flicted. Had any man committed this or that sin, 
and come to David for sympathy or pardon, he had 



ONLY A BABY. 115 

only to reflect : I too have been guilty of a similar 
ofiense, therefore I must forgive. 

This little infant of days was a rod in the hands 
of God to chastise and bring David to his knees. 
God often deals thus with his children, taking away 
our clay idols, and striking us to the heart with 
them. " Thou shalt have no other gods before me," 
is as positive and imperative now, since Jesus wore 
the robe of humanity, as it was when given amid 
the thunders of Sinai. This little creature accom- 
plished his mission, and died. Death, with his icy 
fingers, set his seal upon him, and he became an 
infant forever. To David and Bath-sheba this 
child always remained an infant. Solomon alone 
grew to manhood. The revolving years brought 
no change in this one to their hearts. 

Progression, the great law of nature, is equally 
a law of grace. Our material bodies grow mature, 
then fade. Our minds and souls are always on the 
wing, and, but for the flesh, would never weary. 
As this child was the embodiment of all the evils 
in man's nature, what a mercy that God took him ! 
What a fearful record of crime and misery would 
have been his portion, had he lived ! Then he 
would have been lost at last. 

During the seven days' illness of the little one, 
David was so distressed that he sat, day and night, 
clothed in sackcloth and ashes, mourning and pray- 



116 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

ing God to spare his life. " I am troubled, I am 
bowed down greatly, 1 go mourning all the day 
long. In thee, O God, do I put my trust. Thoi 
wilt hear, O Lord, my God; for I will declare 
mine iniquity ; I will be sorry for my sin. Make 
haste to help me, O God of my salvation." Thus 
spoke the sorely-tried heart of Israel's monarch. 

When the little one died, David's servants, see- 
ing his grief, were afraid to tell him. He, know- 
ing the fact by their expression of countenance, 
asked them about it. They told him the truth, 
and he arose, bathed, dressed himself neatly, came 
out smiling, and oifered a sacrifice to God. Mag- 
nificent David! truly thou art "a man after God's 
own heart." The servants were surprised, and 
asked why he was so cheerful; as his child was 
dead, he would never see him more. Then and 
there fell from David's lips this grand, life-giving 
principle of the Christian religion — the balm for 
all the woes of life: My baby is dead ; I shall not 
see him here any more ; he cannot return to me, but, 
thank God, I shall go to him. 

Blessed resurrection! David saw it dimly in 
the swelling buds and opening blossoms of spring, 
the rising sun, the falling and evaporation of the 
glittering dew-drops. He knew it too by a direct 
revelation from Heaven. In all nature he saw the 
growing of life out of death. If a grain of corn 



ONLY A BABY. 117 

is planted, and dies, it springs up into a beautiful 
stalk, and yields thirty, forty, or fifty grains. Jesus 
died, and out of that precious death all may live, 
eternally. 

David felt in his heart, by a direct inspiration 
from God, that there is a day coming when we 
shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. 
No wonder he cried out, in joyful anticipation, 
" Bless the Lord, O my soul ! I will sing praises to 
the God of my salv-ation!" Out of the greatest 
sorrows of his life came forth, by the resurrection- 
power of God, the grandest joys. So with us — out 
of the black subsoil of our hearts' sorest griefs, 
having been plowed by the plowshare of suffering, 
arise and bloom the most beautiful flowers and 
luscious fruits of joy and blessedness. The heavi- 
est crosses we carry on our hearts will be wreathed 
with the most fragrant flowers of faith, hope, and 
love, whose perfume will be cast the whole length 
of our pathway to the tomb — ^yea, through the gates 
of death. 

Bath-sheba's child did more for the purifying oi 
David's heart than Absalom or Solomon ever did. 
Boys, if you are tempted, cling to Jesus. Praise 
God anyhow, and the deeper the waters of sorrow 
and woe, the more firmly will your feet rest on the 
Rock of Ages on the eternity side of the river of 
death. 



J BABY'S NARROW ESCAPE. 



" The Leart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked." 

MILLIONS of insects, no bigger than a mite, 
are born, live one day, their little spirits go 
out in space, and the sun casts his departing rays 
on their tiny corpses, whitening and hardening 
them, ready to go into a new formation. That 
formation, after ages have passed, becomes a conti- 
nent, or island, fitted for the habitation of man. 
Why these minute insects exist so short a time, and 
where the life goes, is unknown to the most sci- 
entific naturalist — ^these are among the insoluble 
mysteries of nature. 

As the coral insects of a day pile their little dead 
bodies up until we have a mountain-chain, rearing 
its snow-clad peaks high above the clouds, so thou- 
sands of babies are born, open their wondering eyes 
to the light of this beautiful world, look into the 
loving faces of their mothers, and open new fount- 
ains of tenderness in their hearts, then quietly close 
them in death, their little souls gently flitting away 
to God. Their mission seems to remain unaccom- 

(118) 



A baby's narrow escape. 119 

plished, but, for aught we know, the moral and 
spiritual influences of these children of a day, 
piled up, mountain - high, in the spiritual world, 
may be a power for good that eternity alone can 
reveal. As not a corpse of the coral insect is lost 
to the natural world, so each little soul is still a 
living power in the world of spirits. These little 
incarnated sparkles of innocence may stand nearer 
the throne of God than the highest and brightest 
archangel there, "for in heaven their angels do 
always behold the face of my Father which is in 
heaven." Children are often snatched away by 
death from great, soul-destroying evils. Heaven 
must be filled, or Jesus will not see " the travail of 
his soul, and be satisfied." Sometimes God sees 
that the gates of perdition are yawning to receive 
them, and determines to save, ^*ke a skillful, kind- 
hearted surgeon. He sends his minister, " Death, 
with his sickle keen," and clips the brittle thread 
of life, and takes them to himself. 

Once upon a time, long before there was a Baby 
Jesus, two wicked women lived in one house in the 
city of Jerusalem — I never heard their names. 
Each was the mother of a tiny boy-baby, and, ac- 
cidentally, one of them rolled over on hers in the 
night, and killed it. At midnight she took the 
little one softly to the other woman's bed, and laid 
him in her arms, then crept back with the living 



120 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

child. The next morning, on waking, the cheated 
woman felt that it was ,a stranger she held in her 
arms. She accused the woman of having stolen 
her child, and placed her dead one in her arms. 
So they quarreled about it, each claiming the liv- 
ing infant. Finally, one of them proposed going 
to King Solomon to have the matter settled : the 
other agreed ; and together they went, each feeling 
certain the king would decide in her favor.^ 

Solomon was offering sacrifice to the Lord before 
the ark of the covenant when they saw him. He 
was quite a young man then, but full of wisdom, 
and " the grace of God was upon him." Each one 
told her story, to which he listened respectfully. 
Solomon was for a moment puzzled, then said to 
a servant. Go bring a sword, then cut the child 
in two, and give each woman a part. The man 
took the little one by the feet, and was about to 
execute the bloody order, when the real mother 
rushed toward him quicker than thought, exclaim- 
ing. Give him to the woman ! do n't kill my child ! 
The other woman exclaimed. No ! cut him in two ! 
No, said the wise young king; that is the real 
mother (pointing to the one who objected to the 
murder) ; give the child to her. 

This little incident is one of the many thrown 
in to show the wisdom of Solomon, and the deprav- 
ity of the human heart where there is no living, 



A BABY S NARROW ESCAPE. I'^l 

growing Christ within, sanctifying all things. The 
downward tendency of sin is so great and rapid 
that from the first sinful thought there is but a 
short distance to the most Heaven-daring crime. 
The tendency of almost every thing earthly is sin- 
ward. Man's nature, in his fallen condition, will 
gravitate in that direction, instead of Godward. 
Mingled with our purest and holiest desires and 
acts is the fearful taint of sin. 

Some flowers of Eden we still inherit, 

But the trail of the serpent is over them all. 



3IE-PHIB- 0- 8HETR. 



" The Lord loveth whom he chasteneth." 
rr^ RUTH, as a whole, is so vastAthat we can only 
JL grasp a small portion of it here and there — 
little gleams from the great Sun of Truth. Could 
we, with our finite minds, take in the whole truth 
in its yastness, we should grasp God in all his un- 
utterable fullness — yea, we should be equal to God 
himself, which cannot be, as a part cannot equal 
the whole of a thing. 

Perhaps no character has been so misunderstood 
and misrepresented as that of Me-phib-o-sheth. We 
shall never know the whole truth about him till we 
have put on the garments of salvation in the other 
world, and walk with him in white under the shade- 
trees of eternal life. Some have accused him of 
the basest ingratitude to the best of benefactors; 
others have taken his part, and blamed the villainy 
of Ziba and the impatience of David. Let me 
have the pleasing task of vindicating, to some ex- 
tent, this truly bitter character. Let me go to the 
secret spring of his sorrows, and show how the 
sparkling wine of life was changed to gall and 

(122) 



ME-PHIB-0-SHETH. 123 

wormwood by the force of outward circumstances. 
In treading life's narrow pathway, right in the 
bleeding foot-prints of Me-phib-o-sheth might have 
been a cold, bitter, hard woman, but for the grace 
of God. I know not how many angels may be 
even now guarding my path, lest at any time I 
dash my foot against a stone. 

Me-phib-o-sheth was the only son of Jonathan, 
and the grandson of Saul, the first king of Israel. 
His mother's name is unknown — she probably died 
w^hile he was an infant. In 2 Sam. iv. 4, we find 
the key that unlocks the whole mystery of his fol- 
lowing life. Why does the inspired historian, in 
the midst of the great and stirring national events 
of that eventful time — in the very center of the 
narrative of the death of Ish-bo-sheth, a great 
prince — stop to tell of the fall of a little child 
from the arms of its nurse? I have seen a great 
chess-player, in the midst of a most intensely-in- 
teresting game, when he had his adversary's king 
completely in his power, look up in his face, smile 
sweetly, and move a pawn away off in a remote cor- 
ner of the board. He always had a great object 
behind that indifierent move. So with this little 
incident — the writer had a great object, imperfectly 
understood by us, in this little fact. 

Me-phib-o-sheth was God's child, and he knew 
his character was, in after-years, to be assailed; 



124 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

therefore here, at five years of age, we hear that 
he was lame on both his feet. Every time his 
name is mentioned we have repeated this sorrowful 
fact. 

Saul and Jonathan were killed on Mount Gilboa, 
the latter leaving only this little child, in the fam- 
ily of Machir, perhaps in Gibeath, the royal resi- 
dence of the king. David was carrying terror be- 
fore him, as he led his conquering armies through 
the land. The whole country was in confusion. 
The house of the dead king was scattered to the 
four winds. 

At this time Me-phib-o-sheth was five years old. 
He was taken up by his nurse, and, in her hurry, 
she let him fall to the ground, crushing both little 
feet at one blow. His ankles were both dislocated 
— bones, muscles, and flesh, mashed and bruised in 
su ch a manner that recovery was hopeless. What 
a painful journey, as he was carried in haste, faint- 
ing, on the back of his nurse, to a place of secu- 
rity ! One cannot realize how much pain a crushed 
limb can give until it has been realized in his own 
personal experience. Poor little Me-phib-o-sheth ! 
how many times he fainted! How many times 
the nurse stopped to still his cries ! how often she 
bathed the face of the fainting child ! What pet 
words she used, as she held the little crushed feet 
in her hands, trying to ease his pain, I know not. 



ME-PHIB-0-SHETH. 125 

I hope she was kind to the poor little orphan — ^in- 
deed, a true woman could not have been otherwise. 
Fearfully maimed for life, orphaned, and nizide 
homeless almost at one blow ! Dear child, yours is 
indeed a dreary outlook on life. But He who re- 
gards the sparrow's fall will guide thee, will raise 
thee up a nurse, will open the hearts and loose 
the purse-strings before thee. You, in your weak- 
ness, will be more powerful than your grandfather 
in his proudest days. You will find a warm place 
in hearts seemingly made of cast-iron. AValls of 
ice around hearts will be thawed and changed into 
a vapor of love at your coming. 

When they had reached a place of safety, the 
nurse found his feet so crushed and swollen that 
recovery was hopeless. How long he was confined 
to his bed, what kind of medicines were used, what 
doctors and nurses he had, I know not. I know 
that he sufiered intense pain — sometimes like red- 
hot needles running through his feet, then as if 
they were under a millstone, then again a red-hot 
iron on them — sometimes as if a hungry bird, with 
bill and sharp claws, were tearing him in pieces. 
I know that fever raged within his young veins — 
possibly he was delirious. His tongue, parched 
and blistered, could scarcely lisp the name of that 
mother he never saw. Perhaps he prayed to die. 

"How do you know all that?" says one; "the 



126 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Bible does not say so." I know it because pain is 
an old-fasliioned thing, and its effects were then 
very much as they are now. I know a good deal 
about human hearts, and, after all, sin, suffering, 
pain, and death, are as common now and act pre- 
cisely as they did when this little boy suffered. 
Personal experience and observation have taught 
us too that when he came, after months, it may be 
years, of suffering, from that sick-room, he was 
frail, delicate, sensitive, keenly alive to every touch 
— physical strength gone, intellectual and spiritual 
powers expanded. 

While he was shut in from the outer world, he 
was shut up with God. The Shekinah dwelt in 
that sick-room; visions of angels, such as the un- 
suffering never saw, were every-day sights to his 
eyes. Finally, the fever over, flesh again being 
renowned, color coming once more to the cheeks, 
brightness to the eyes, he returns to the world, with 
a spirituality far in advance of those around him, 
a helpless, hopeless cripple for life! How trying 
it was to hear the doctors and nurses say. Poor boy ! 
he will never walk again ! He must be a child in 
aims forty, fifty, perhaps eighty, years; a man in 
thought, feeling, size, intellect — a babe in power; 
a perfect man, save those deformed feet. Such 
was Me-phib-o-sheth. Henceforth he is to hobble 
through life, a painful sight to those who love him 



ME-PHIB-0-SHETH. 127 

best. Some will ridicule, some will thrust their 
unwelcome pity on him. Useless to himself, and a 
burden to his friends, life is almost unbearable ; 
but the grace of God was as full, rich, and free for 
him as for his afflicted children now. That very 
affliction was the white-winged angel of salvation 
to his soul, and every pain that sent its fiery dart 
through his body was a blow from the Divine 
Sculptor, chipping here and there in order to bring 
out a more beautiful piece of art for the decoration 
of the many-mansioned house eternal. God rain- 
bowed with his love every tear shed by that sufier- 
ing child. 

The subsequent history of Me-phib-o-sheth proves 
that he was made miserable by his misfortunes. 
He ever felt, even while at the king's table, that 
he was nothing but a poor, miserable dependent, 
that even kindness could not make happy. 

As Me-phib-o-sheth sat at the king's table be- 
cause of the love that David bore for the slain 
Jonathan, the chosen friend of his youth, so do we 
poor, helpless cripples, lame and deformed by sin, 
sit at the table of the King of kings because of 
the friendship that existed, before the foundations 
of the earth were laid, between the Father and the 
Son slain on Calvary. Instead of feeling that we 
are miserable dependents, and looking with a scowl 
of envy, like Me-phib-o-sheth, let us make the Mas- 



128 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



ter's table bright and joyous with our smiles of ap- 
preciation and loving words. Let us make the 
King glad to have us there, by being happy and 
enjoying his rich bounties. 

Dear boys, there is a worse lameness than crushed 
teet — it is to be crippled in the head ; yea, a still 
worse deformity — a crushed, crippled soul, a spirit- 
ual nature deformed by sin and unbelief. We can- 
not help ugly bodies, but we can make our souls as 
beautiful as the angels, by keeping them unspotted 
from the world in the blood of the Lamb, clothed 
with the garments of Christ's righteousness, and 
ornamented with meekness, love, and holiness. 



ABU AH. 



"Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the chil- 
dren." 

ABLJAH was the son of the wicked Jeroboam, 
the son of Nebat, who caused the land to 
sin. The iniquities of Israel were becoming more 
an insult to high Heaven. Heaven is high above 
the bad man — so high that all the Jacob's ladders 
of earth cannot reach it. Heaven is in the heart 
which loves God and keeps his commandments. 

Jeroboam, lost to all sense of manly integrity, 
became more and more wicked, and finally made 
himself priest. This was a crime of the most fear- 
ful character, and infinite patience was exhausted. 

About this time, Abijah, the young son of Jero- 
boam, fell sick. He was a boy perhaps twelve 
years of age, as children are rarely responsible 
under that age. His mother, in great distress, 
asked the king what she should do. He advised 
her to disguise herself, that none would recognize 
her as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to the Prophet 
Ahijah, and get his advice. Probably the hatred 
of the wicked king extended to his wife; so she 
9 (129) 



130 CHILDKEN OF THE BIBLE. 

prepared for the journey by taking a present of 
ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, 
and went to Shiloh to see Ahijah. He was old 
and blind, but the Spirit of the Lord, swifter than 
mother's love — the same Spirit that moved on the 
face of the foaming waters in the twilight-dawning 
of creation — flew to him, and informed him that 
the wife of Jeroboam was coming, then dropped on 
his lips the right words to say. The same Spirit is 
with us now, ready to inspire our words. 

She came in, and told her story. He then re- 
minded her of her husband — ^how God had selected 
him to be the king of a great nation — that he had 
rent the kingdom from another, though he (Jero- 
boam) was not upright like his servant David, who 
had kept his commandments and followed his law. 
He told her that Jeroboam did more evil than any 
king before him — that he had made gods, anc* 
molten images, and groves, and he refused to ac- 
knowledge and be guided by him. Now, through 
the prophet, he pronounces the most fearful curses 
on him and all his house. Only one in whose veins 
the blood of Jeroboam flowed should die in peace, 
and that one a little boy, who loved God in spite 
of the wickedness surrounding him. The fowls of 
the air and the beasts of the forest should receive 
orders to eat all that guilty house. We cannot sid 
alone — some one else will be affected by it. 



ABIJAH. 131 

Only the little one, Abijah, should be saved, 
because in him was found some good thing toward 
God. The Bible does not tell us what that good 
thing was — perhaps only a few wandering thoughts 
struggling Godward — a few holy desires, a strange 
hungering after righteousness that God could not 
consistently fulfill. Yes, this child had, in spite of 
bad blood, bad example, in the midst of the most 
corrupting influences, remained somewhat pure. 

Leaving an example to us, he shows that, though 
we are defiled by touching pitch, if we love God 
and trust him, all the pitch on earth cannot harm 
us. There are characters that are so quicksilvery 
in their purity that it seems almost impossible to 
sully them. They were made superior to the com- 
mon people, and they remain. 

Ahijah said to the queen. When you return, the 
child shall die just as you enter the door. After 
this interview, she returned to Tirzah, and, as she 
entered the door, the child breathed his last. Poor 
boy ! to die without a loving mother near ! Happy 
boy ! to be taken to heaven before the seeds of sin 
had time to sprout, bear the black blossoms of 
misery, and ripen into the harvest of eternal de- 
spair ! Happy boy ! in spite of the sins surround- 
ing you, you mounted upward, on the wings of 
God's love and mercy, to the blissful home of the 
blest. Had he lived, he would have grown to a 



132 CHILDREN OP THE BIBLE. 

wicked manliood, died a horrible death, and been 
eternally lost. God's word is sure : all the rest of 
this wicked family were lost — he alone was saved. 

In this story death rises up before us not as a 
grim destroyer, but in a character entirely new to 
us — as a blessed angel of mercy and goodness — a 
loving friend, into whose arms we gladly fly, know- 
ing that he simply came to carry this child away 
from a polluted earthly crown to an eternal one 
in heaven, and to an everlasting kingdom, in which 
no Nebat's son shall ever enter, to cause the land 
to sin, because in him was found some good thing to- 
ward the Lord, 

If Abijah, in the midst of such circumstances, 
could retain his purity, and have God reward him 
in this way, how should we, who have all the holy 
influences surrounding us, live — ^we who are wafted 
heavenward by the rich perfume of ten thousand 
ascending prayers? How should we, who see life 
glorified and rainbow-tinted through the crimson 
tide of Calvary, live ? Surely God, in looking into 
our hearts, sees a great deal of good toward him. 
"To who7n much is given, of him much shall he re- 
quired. ^^ Let us do our work well. One hour of 
work well done is a grand prophecy of another hour 
better spent. With our feet firmly fixed on the 
Rock of Ages, our hands clinging to the cross, we 
can do all things through him who strengtheneth us. 



THE WIDOW'S SON. 



" Bread shall be given him ; his waters shall be sure." 
Isa. xxxiii. 16. 

ONCE I was making some corrections in this 
little volume, and the idea occurred to me 
that the most serious defect was a constant going 
over, again and again, of the same thing. I tried 
to remedy this error, and found it impossible, with- 
out a sacrifice of truth. Were these stories imag- 
inary they might be original ; but, coming directly 
from the Fountain-head of all truth, and every 
character real, made of the same material, prompt 
ed by the same Spirit, made by the same divine 
model, how can there be originality? or how can I 
avoid repetition? How am I to make variety 
where none exists? I dare not trifle with truth. 
What would my grown-up Sabbath-school children 
say if I were to put Moses on the altar instead of 
Isaac? or the Shunammite's son in the bulrush- 
basket instead of Moses? 

The basis upon which the earth rests is pure, 
solid, simple granite, the same everywhere in color, 
substance, and elementary principle, equally hard, 

(133) 



134 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

whether dug from under the burning sun of the 
tropics, or beneath the ice of Greenland. On top 
of this primary base are many other strata, all dif- 
fering from each other, and from the granite foun- 
dation, but, like the primitive colors of the rain- 
bow, blending into a beautiful whole. Thus it is 
with these children — each one was a living, human, 
suffering soul, body, and mind, like the children I 
teach. Sabbath after Sabbath. All lived on earth 
—all pointed to Jesus. Like a child's copy-book, 
every line was an imitation of the first, more or less 
perfect. These children are much alike: the same 
old tune, with one key-note and a thousand varia- 
tions, made by external circumstances — the age in 
which he or she lived, climate, soil, and the ever- 
varying conditions of human life — the original base 
of their character, like the granite in the earth, the 
same — they all rested, more or less firmly, on the 
Rock of Ages — all have a lesson of encouragement, 
or a warning, for us. 

On opening my Bible this morning, accidentally 
— providentially rather, for in the music of a Chris- 
tian's life there are nc accidentals — my eye rested 
on these words: "He raiseth the widow's son." I 
began to read, thinking only of Elisha and the 
Shunammite, when, seeing the name of Elijah, the 
whole beautiful story of Zarephath mapped itself 
on my mind. On reading it, I find that Elisha is 



THE widow's son. 135 

a repetition of Elijah ; so is this incident in his life. 
Both of these prophets were holy men of God; 
both of them found a true and faithful friend in a 
woman. Each of these women had an only son ; 
the sons died, and were restored by the prophets. 
The difference— one woman was a poor widow ; the 
other rich, and had a husband. 

In 1 Kings xvii. the story is told in all the beau- 
tiful simplicity of Bible -language. During the 
famine predicted by Elijah, the Lord commanded 
him to go to the brook Cherith, and remain there, 
drinking of its waters, and being fed by the ra- 
vens, spending his time in solitary prayer and quiet 
communion with God. I think those infidels who 
believe most implicitly in the story of Romulus, 
Remus, and Mamma Wolf, hoot most at Elijah's 
primitive style of living at this time of life. 

At last the brook dried up. Then, and not till 
then, did the word of the Lord come to him, say- 
ing, "Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth 
to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have com- 
manded a widow woman there to sustain thee." 
How sorrowful he must have been, as he traveled 
so far, on foot, over a land parched and blistered 
by the burning sun — as he saw fields of olives, 
and orchards, once so green and flourishing, now 
dried up, and falling to pieces around him ! Prob- 
ably little children, with uncombed hair and fan? 



136 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

ine-pinched features, ran to the door to see him as 
he passed. I don't know if they were aware of 
the fact that he held the clouds in his hand, and 
could bring or withhold rain ; if they did, how bit- 
tei and dreadful must have been the curses that 
fell on his devoted head ! How sad was his heart, 
as he saw the desolation, and knew that in one mo- 
ment he could flood the land, and set in motion 
every stream, and send new life through everj 
parched tree, and cause joy and gladness where 
now all was desolation and despair ! Yet he must 
wait Jot Ood to give the order, A well-disciplined 
army awaits the order from its general. If he pm*- 
ished, God must he obeyed. The keenest suffering 
in the world is to feel that we hold the happiness 
of immortal souls in our keeping; and yet we 
must allow them to be miserable, because, in mak- 
ing them happy, God would be displeased. How 
much more distressing when the happiness of a 
whole nation is depending on us ! 

Zarephath is a city in Zidon, on the Mediterra- 
nean Sea. On entering this city, Elijah saw a poor, 
famine-stricken woman, gathering sticks, and he 
said, "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a 
vessel, that I may drink." Elijah knew, by a di- 
rect inspiration from God, that this was the woman 
to whom he was sent. She, inspired in the same 
way perhaps, started for it immediately. This 



THE widow's son. 137 

prompt obedience seems quite strange. A starving 
woman and her perishing son, in a famine-stricken 
country, to give, immediately, to an entire stranger, 
a little water in a vessel, is quite remarkable. Self- 
preservation, mother -love, the selfishness engen- 
dered by suflering, and indifference to strangers, all 
seem to war against the singular generosity, which 
can be accounted for on no other principle than a 
direct whisper of God on the conscience of the 
heathen woman — as our preachers say, a "witness 
of the Spirit." As she started to get the water, 
her own tongue parched and dry for want of it, 
Elijah called her with a still greater request, self- 
ish in the highest degree when looked at from a 
human stand -point — "Bring me, I pray thee, a 
morsel of bread in thine hand." 

He who possesses a growiny faith in God — not an 
ignorant, blind belief, but a faith founded upon a 
principle, and a knowledge of the God we worship 
— has a mine of wealth within his own soul that 
he may work through all ages, and it will never be 
exhausted till God himself has finished his course. 
Remove a mountain indeed ! — that is quite a small 
thing comparatively. 

Thus far we see only the woman's faith. Elijah 
knew for a certainty what he was about. Had he 
not tried God? Had he ever been disappointed? 
Little boys, would you find peace? Fin-d it in 



138 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Jesus. He knows all your troubles ; he has passed 
through that period of life, and sanctified it for all 
time. 

When Elijah asked for bread, she said, "As the 
Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a 
handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a 
cruse ; and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that 
I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that 
we may eat it, and die.'^ Extreme poverty, de- 
spair, and hospitality, with a dim idea of pleasing 
God, all struggling together in her heart ! Finally, 
hospitality, upheld by faith, conquered. Yes, I 
will make a cake, and share it with you, and to- 
gether we will die. It is death any way — what 
matters a few moments, more or less, of life? Here 
is a strange-looking man, in appearance a prophet ; 
if I divide my last crust with him, perhaps his 
God will be pleased, and may be I shall be reward- 
ed. Heaven will be brighter to me and my son, 
and earth can be no darker. Yes, stranger though 
you are, I will divide my all with you. 

Elijah then said, "Fear not: go and do as thou 
hast said ; but make me thereof a little cake first, 
and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and 
for thy son." After my hunger is satisfied, if there 
is any thing left, you take it. 

Was ever a woman so tried? O how eagerly 
fihe looked at that little cake ' Instead of her hos- 



THE widow's son. 139 

pitality being appreciated and enjoyed, it is put 
to the severest test. Seeing her struggle between 
kindness and hunger, and her willingness to obey, 
he then said, "For thus saith the Lord God of Is- 
rael, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither 
shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the 
Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." Thus it al- 
ways is — first the test, then the promise ; after that 
the fulfillment — Si blessed trinity in all things. 

She did as Elijah commanded, and he, she, and 
her house, did eat bread many days. "And the 
barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of 
oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which 
he spake by Elijah." 

O men of God, as Elijah of old, be faithful in 
proclaiming the word of the Lord ! O widows, 
trust in the God of Elijah! Ifever mind if the 
last cake is on the table; it matters not if you do 
scrape against the bottom of the barrel — it is sweet 
music to your Father's ears, when faith is in the 
heart. God is the same now that he was then 
— yea, nearer; for, having been incarnate, and 
"touched with a feeling of our infirmities," we 
have his sympathy in a far more precious degree 
than did Elijah. 

Soon after these things, while Elijah was still 
living with the widow of Zarephath, it came to 
pass that the little boy was taken sick — saved from 



140 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

tlie famine by a miracle only to sicken and die. 
Truly, "God moves in a mysterious way." This 
poor woman was saved from one sorrow to fall 
more hopelessly into another — out of one distress 
into another; but with every sorrow comes the 
grace to bear it, if we have the faith to receive it. 
Out of fiery trials into the deep waters — out of 
the cradle into the coffin. But we bless God that 
deep waters, fiery trials, cradle, and coffin, are so 
many stepping-stones " to pleasures evermore." 

This poor woman sees her only child dying. He 
is the last tie that binds her sorrowful heart to 
earth. When he is gone, existence will be a blank 
— a burden almost unbearable — no one to love. 
A childless widow — nothing to energize or stimu- 
late. Does any one who reads this book stand en- 
tirely alone in the worlds Do you feel that no one 
cares whether you live or die? that your honor or 
dishonor is equally a subj ect of indifierence ? When 
the last earthly hope had vanished, then you knew 
h()W to sympathize with this Gentile woman of Zar- 
ephath, as she saw her last tie ruthlessly snapped 
by a seemingly rude Providence. 

Reaching out after sympathy, she sought her 
friend Elijah, who still remained with her, and she 
Baid, "What have I to do with thee, O thou man 
of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to 
remembrance^ and to slay my son ? " Scripture is 



THE widow's son. 141 

silent as to the nature of this sin, therefore I shall 
be, Elijah took the little child — the one gleam of 
sunlight in that desolate home, the light of his 
mother's life, and joy of her heart — out of his 
mother's arms, and carried him up in a loft, where 
he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. Then 
we hear this great man — the hero of Carmel, the 
Prophet of Fire — this man without human ties, 
and seemingly without human infirmities — this man 
whose virtues are so great that he is lifted up so 
far above us that inspiration had to remind us that 
"he was a man of like passions as other men." 
With his girdle of hair, his long, flowing beard, 
and firm-set face, we see him as he wrestles with 
Grod in prayer, by the side of that lifeless little 
form. No longer a type of the prophetic dispen- 
sation, no longer the "Decalogue incarnate," but 
the man of "like passions" on bended knees, as a 
child, he pleads with God his Father; and he 
" cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, 
hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with 
whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he 
stretched himself upon the child three times [in 
like manner did Elisha restore the Shunammite's 
son, as is recorded in 2 Kings iv. 32-35], and 
cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, 
I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him 
again." And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, 



142 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

and the child revived. And Elijah took the child 
out unto his mother, and Elijah said, "See, thy 
son liveth.'' 

Again appears the great defect in my book, repe- 
tition: "And the woman said to Elijah, Now by 
this I know that thou art a man of God, and that 
the word of the Lord in thy m mth is truth." 
This is the grand finale to every story I ever wrote 
or related to my Sunday-school class. Eepetition 
is a good or bad thing, according to the thing or 
circumstance repeated. I never heard of any one 
being distressed at a repetition of breakfast-time, 
when the pantry was full, and a good cook in the 
kitchen, I never knew any one to object to the 
rising and setting of the sun, though it has repeated 
that process six thousand years. The farmer en- 
joys the ever-recurring change from seed-time to 
harvest. It is the disagreeabilities of life we don't 
want repeated. If the lives of these " Children of 
the Bible " are pure and holy, and we are benefited 
by studying them, then let us have a repetition. 
O for a constant repeating of the lives of good and 
useful men and women! May each generation be 
an improvement on the last, and may Thy kingdom 
soon come! 

Smith, tlie author of the "Bible Dictionary," 
says that the Prophet Jonah was this son of the 
widow of Zarephath. 



IRREVERENCE PUNISHED. 



*'And he went up from thence unto Bethel ; and as he was 
going up by the way, there came forth little children out 
of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, 
thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned 
back, and looked on them, and cursed tliem in the name of 
the Lord. And there came forth two she-bears out of the 
wood, and tare forty and two children of them." 2 Kings 
ii. 23, 24. 

A PLAIN, holy, bald-headed man, had just 
seen one of the most remarkable sights ever 
witnessed on the earth. His best friend and in- 
structor had escaped the greedy jaws of death by 
mounting a chariot of fire, and, with flying steeds 
of flame, had gone to his mansion on high. Elisha 
had picked up his falling mantle, had smitten the 
river Jordan, and passed through on dry land, and 
was now quietly journeying from Jericho to Car- 
mel. His friends, the sons of the prophets, wished 
him to remain in the city, and told him all the 
advantages to be derived from a residence there, 
then honestly informed him that the water was not 
good ; so he took some salt in a cruse, went to the 
fountain-head, and cast it in, in the name of the 
Lord, thus healing the waters forever. 

(143) 



144 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

He was quietly passing along, directly after this, 
on his journey, thinking no evil, when a crowd of 
thoughtless children gathered around him, and be- 
gan to ridicule him, for the simple reason that his 
head was bald, and they wanted fun, and cared not 
at whose expense. Some commentators say they 
were grown men, but the Bible says little children ; 
and, for the honor of humanity and the city of 
Jericho, let us believe the Bible is true, and chil- 
dren are meant. Surely grown people %uere, or 
ought to have been, in better business than lounging 
around the suburbs of a great city, although I have 
seen men in small towns and cities standing around 
the corner drinking-shops, doing nothing but smok- 
ing, talking idly, and gazing at the passers-by. 
The city of Jericho was very wicked — the very 
foundations were laid in blood — and there had 
been many cruel deeds done there, and these chil- 
dren were the descendants of the wicked founders. 
They may have meant no harm, but they did harm. 
They insulted God in the person of his prophet; 
they treated age with irreverence ; they laughed at 
an old man's bald head, hurt his feelings, disturbed 
his communion with God, disgusted his soul, broke 
the commands of our Lord, and violated that beau- 
tiful rule which is the summing up of all the golden 
grains of goodness and holiness. 

Yes, children ; if you insult a good man, you in- 



IRREVEREXCE PUNISHED. 145 

suit the God whose Spirit dwells in him — you throw 
a stone at the great white throne of God. These 
boys were about half grown, and were as good as 
the average children of wealthy parents, who are 
raised in idleness, of the present day. Our pupils, 
dear teachers, would have done the same thing un- 
der the same circumstances. I am afraid they do 
even worse sometimes. These boys may have been 
taught better, but, in a spirit of mischief, and for- 
getful of the reverence due to age and religion, 
they mocked, saying, " Go up, thou bald head ; go 
up, thou bald head." 

The prophet now throws aside in one moment the 
character of the meek Elisha, takes on the stern 
virtue of Elijah, and, at the command of God, 
cursed them in the name of the Lord. Jesus, on 
one occasion, and only one, cursed — that is, con- 
demned, or frowned on, an object. 

I do n't know if the bears came immediately and 
tore these children to pieces, but there is reason to 
believe they did, judging from our knowledge of 
God's judgments. Ananias and Sapphira fell dead 
in a moment. Uzziah, for a smaller offense, died 
instantly. Achan was stoned at once. God's judg- 
ments fall quickly sometimes. Before Elisha's voice 
had ceased to echo among the Judean hills, the 
bears came, and the cries of the children were al- 
most united with the curse of the prophet. There 
10 



H6 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

were two bears and forty and two children. O 
what a day of anguish for the mothers of Jericho ! 
and why ? Because parents and teachers had failed, 
somehow, to inspire those children w^ith reverence 
for God's minister. 

Children, have any of you failed in your duty 
to God's prophets for so small a thing as a bald 
head? I know it is fashionable to tease the dear 
old Elishas of this day, and they join in the merri- 
ment against themselves, considering what is inside 
their heads more than the mere outer decoration 
of flowing hair. But that is not the point at all. 
God, in this instance, did not think of the shining 
pate of his servants ; but he did see, with an eye of 
burning wrath, the irreverence in the hearts of 
these wicked boys. 

Now, learn a lesson from the youth of Jericho, 
you American boys — yea, a lesson for you Celes- 
tials, for some of you will read these lines. Take 
warning by these. The day of wrath may linger, 
but it will come by and by. Kespect God's people ; 
reverence his house and his holy Sabbaths; pray 
for and love his ministers ; touch not their sensitive 
point, whether it be a bald head or a deformity, 
either moral, mental, or spiritual ; love them, and 
help them bear their burdens. You will be old 
some day, if you live long enough, and will need kind- 
ness yourselves. As you sow, so shall you reap. 



THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON. 



" Cast thy bread upon the waters ; for thou shalt find it 
after many days." Eccl. xi. 1. 

THE Prophet Elisha, on his way to Shunem, 
passed a great lady's house, and stopped to 
take the evening's meal with her. Like most 
preachers, he made himself agreeable to the lady, 
and she likewise to him. Probably, besides being 
agreeable, she placed before him the best her larder 
contained, and, as man's nature is prone to weak- 
ness for the delicacies of the table, and as preach- 
ers are, at best, but men, and human nature the 
same in all ages, I have no doubt Elisha's taste in 
this respect was as keen as ours. 

After he had been stopping with her a few times, 
quite a strong friendship grew up between them. 
He improved so much on acquaintance that one 
day she said to her husband, "Behold now, I per- 
ceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth 
by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, 
I pray thee, on the wall ; and let us set for him 
there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candle- 
stick," so he will feel at home with us. 

(147) 



148 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

That dear little room ! How I should have en- 
joyed sitting on the stool, writing stories about 
Jesus for the little ones, by the light of that can- 
dle ! How quiet and cozy it must have been ! I 
wish all our preachers had just such a one. But 
they, I fear, would want more furniture than a 
table, bed, and candlestick. Nineteenth-century 
ministers require gas-light, armoires, bureaus, and 
libraries. 

One hot summer's day, Elisha lay on his bed, 
thinking how nice it was to have such a room, and 
the idea occurred to him that he would like to of- 
fer the woman a substantial evidence of his grati- 
tude for her kindness. He called his servant, and 
said, Gehazi, what shall I do for our friends? They 
are so kind to me, and I would like to offer them 
some sort of reward. Shall I ask a favor of the 
captain of the guard, or the king? Gehazi said, 
Perhaps they would like a son. Elisha made a 
few more inquiries, and finally told her that within 
a year the Lord would send her a son. 

Time passed on, and the promised son came, 
bringing joy and gladness to the hearts of this 
hospitable family. Elisha still passed back and 
forth on his circuit among the people. I suppose 
he was presiding elder, or bishop, then — at any rate, 
he was on a circuit He always stopped with his 
friends, and many a merry romp the old man had 



THE SHUNAMMITE's SON. 149 

with the great woman's baby in the dear "little 
chamber on the wall.'' 

One day the little boy went out in the field to 
watch his father and the reapers. While standing 
there in the hot sun, he suddenly cried out in great 
pain, "My head! my head!" His father called 
one of the lads, and sent his son home in his arms. 
His mother was much alarmed, and clasped him 
to her heart — soothed and comforted him, using 
such restoratives as she had ; still that fearful pain 
continued. All the morning the little one lay in 
its mother's arms, tossing about, crying with pain, 
until noon, then he died. She carried him in her 
arms to Elisha's room, weeping bitterly as she went, 
then called her husband, and requested him to send 
her a servant. The servant came. She ordered 
him to saddle one of the asses, that she might go 
to Mount Carmel to see Elisha. He could speak 
words of heavenly comfort to her aching heart. 
Her husband tried to persuade her not to go, but 
she insisted. He told her the night was dark, there 
was no moon, the way was long and rugged — bet-, 
ter wait till morning. The agony of her soul was 
so great that waiting was impossible, so she went 
with the servant, in great haste, to Carmel. Elisha 
saw her coming, and sent Gehazi to meet her, and 
inquire if all was well. Without reply, she went 
to the man of God, fell before him, and caught him 



150 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

by his feet, in her great grief. Gehazi tried to 
pull her away, but Elisha forbade him, saying that 
the woman was in great trouble, and the Lord had 
hidden the cause from him. She told him her baby 
was dead. Elisha, in surprise, handed his staff to 
Gehazi, saying. Go and lay it on the child's face, 
and do not speak to any one on the way. What 
strange things the Spirit inspires ! 

The woman refused to go until the prophet went 
with her. When they arrived, they saw the little 
boy lying cold and stiff in death, on the bed, in 
"the chamber on the wall." Then Elisha sent the 
mother away, while he closed the door and wres- 
tled with God in prayer. Seeing that his prayer 
availed not — rather, that it inspired other methods by 
which he might restore happiness to the stricken par- 
ents — "he went up, and lay upon the child, and 
put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon 
his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he 
stretched himself upon the child ; and the flesh of 
the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and 
walked in the house to and fro ; and went up, and 
stretched himself upon him ; and the child sneezed 
seven times, and the child opened his eyes." He 
then sent his servant to call the boy's mother.- She 
came ; and he said, " Take up thy son." 

We have heard of persons almost dead being 
restored by having warm, living blood poured in 



THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON. 151 

their veins — we have read of their being restored 
by means of animal magnetism — but, certainly, 
none but God could have inspired the heart of 
Elisha with this strange notion. God*s ways are 
past finding out. To Naaman, the leper, he saidj 
"Go and wash in Jordan seven times." To the 
people of Israel the command came to take Jericho 
by silently marching around it, then making a great 
noise with rams' horns. To David he said. Take 
five small, smooth, round stones, to kill Goliath of 
Gath, and scatter the Philistine army. To Samson 
the instrument of destruction was the jaw-bone of 
an ass. To make a dry road through the sea, 
bring water out of dead rocks, and plagues on the 
enemies of God, required only a little rod in the 
hand of Moses. 

In this story we see these words beautifully illus- 
trated : " Cast thy bread upon the waters ; for thou 
shalt find it after many days." The woman's work 
in fitting up the room for the prophet was a little 
crumb cast on the waves by her generous hand. 
She thought not of reward. With the first smile 
of her infant she gathered a crumb cast on the 
waters a year previous, and in his death her soul 
was humbled and strengthened, and she was happy 
in his restoration to life. We learn from this com- 
plete little history what a blessed thing it is to 
show kindness to God's chosen ministers. We have 



152 CHILDREN 0¥ THE BIBLE. 

our Elishas now — men just as good, just as intelli- 
gent, and spiritual — men who, through God, hath 
spoken and called sons from a worse death (though 
they cannot perform miracles), and as worthy of 
our love and reverence as he was of the Shunara- 
mite's; and, though we may not be able to give 
them " a little chamber on the wall, a table, stool, 
bed, and candlestick,'' we can at least give them 
kind words, loving smiles, and show a generous for- 
bearance of their faults, and an appreciation of 
their virtues. 

As Moses and Joshua were to the Israelites, so 
our ministers are to us; and to each of us we can 
have it said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
it unto me;." and a rich reward awaits all such be- 
yond the swelling waves of the Jordan of death. 



THE LITTLE TUG-BOAT.^ 



" Be instant in season, out of season." "A word fitly 
spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." 

LITTLE girls, you are now wondering what is 
coming. I wrote the story for you, then pon- 
dered over an appropriate title. Listen while I 
tell you what a little girl once did. While the 
children of Israel were in captivity, one of them 
became the servant of K'aaman's wife. [N'aaman 
was captain of the guard under the king, a man 
of great intellect, wealth, power, and much beloved. 
But (ah! there comes in that terrible word — so 
many are rich, talented, beautiful — but "the skele- 
ton in the cupboard" is a melancholy truth) S'aa- 
man, the beloved, was a leper. Among the people 

■^" Being at a loss for a name for my story, one came into 
my mind that is expressive, to say the least of it. I re- 
member once seeing a little boat puffing away at a furious 
rate on the Mississippi River, a large steamer quietly fol- 
lowing it. On inquiry, a gentleman informed me that it 
was a tug-boat, towing into port a disabled steamer for 
repairs. This little maid reminded me of the tug-boat, as 
she towed into the haven of eternal blessedness the mag- 
nificent General Naaman. 

(153) 



154 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

of tlie East, this disease was the worst ever known. 
It affected the whole system, and was so loathsome 
and contagious that the afflicted one had to remain 
in a house alone, never touching or going near any 
one. When one passed by, the leper was compelled 
by law to lay his hand on his mouth, and his mouth 
in the dust, and cry, Unclean, unclean, unclean ! 
Naaman was not so bad as this, but the disease was 
incurable, and he was rapidly growing worse. See- 
ing her master so afflicted, she felt a sympathy for 
him, and one day said to her mistress, " Would God 
my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria ! 
for he would recover him of his leprosy." 

Little Sunday-school girls who love Jesus, do 
you ever say to your fathers, brothers, and gentle- 
men friends, " Would God you would love Jesus ! 
he would save you from your sins ? " By faith I 
see this servant-girl as she thus addresses her mis- 
tress. No doubt Naaman had tried all the doctors 
and all the drugs then known ; but, alas ! God had 
laid his iron hand of affliction upon him, and he 
must suffer on till released by relentless death. 

Some one, hearing the little girl speak so hope- 
fully — for she was a happy, brave child — told Naa- 
uian of her remark ; and, as a drowning man will 
catch at a straw, so Naaman determined to get a 
letter of introduction from his sovereign to the 
king of Israel, and see what could be done for him. 



THE LITTLE TUG-BOAT. 155 

The king of Syria therefore wrote to the king of 
Israel, and sent the letter by Naaman. The king 
of Israel was highly indignant at having a leper 
sent to him. He rent his clothes, and said, "Am 1 
God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth 
send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? 
Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he 
seeketh a quarrel against me." 

But the little maiden, inspired by the Holy 
Ghost, knew what she was about, and how it would 
be. Somehow Elisha, the prophet, heard the news. 
Naaman was very rich and grand, and went with 
his chariots and horsemen in splendid style, caus- 
ing much envy and jealousy as he passed along, 
for in those days people loved fine things as well 
as we do, and envied those who possessed them. 
Elisha accordingly went to the king, and asked 
him why he rent his clothes. The matter was ex- 
plained, and Elisha said^ Send him to me ; he shall 
know that there is a prophet in Israel. 

So Naaman the Great drove up in his fine char- 
iot to the humble cottage of Elisha, and sent in a 
messenger, expecting to see the prophet come out 
humbly and listen to his story, quite overpowered 
by so distinguished a guest. He waited a short 
time, vibrating between hope and fear, and the an- 
swer came, and such a message ! Little girls, take 
your Bibles, and turn to 2 Kings v. 10, and you 



156 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

will find these words: "Go and wash in Jordan 
seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, 
and thou shalt be clean." Truly an insulting mes- 
sage to send to His Excellency, the magnificent gen- 
eral. 

"Naaman was wroth." Most any of us would 
have been — to be told, after coming in so much 
grandeur, to go and wash ourselves. What an 
ugly insinuation! But God, by his Holy Spirit, 
does strange things sometimes. We do not com- 
prehend him, yet we love him all the better for 
" making darkness and mystery his pavilion." 

Naaman said, " Behold, I thought. He will sure- 
ly come out to me, and stand, and call on the name 
of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the 
place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and 
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the 
rivers of Israel ? may I not wash in them, and be 
clean? And he turned and went away in a rage." 
O human nature ! human nature ! thy name is un- 
belief ! His servants then came forward and stiid, 
If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, 
you would have done it; but such a little insignifi- 
cant thing — only w^ash seven times in Jordan! 
Why ? It was a disease, and could not be scrubbed 
o9' like common dirt. Why seven times? Why 
not take one good wash, and be done with it? 
What was the virtue in the waters of the Jordan ? 



THE LITTLE TUG-BOAT. 15? 

It was quite a commonplace little stream. Surely 
Abana and Pharpar are better.. 

Thus ISTaaman and all other sinners reason, then 
wonder at the consequences. Had he kept on with 
his argument, he might have convinced every one 
that Abana and Pharpar were better. On second 
consideration, he concluded to take the advice of 
his servants, and try it. O Lord, sanctify the in- 
fluence that even servants exert over us, and may 
it redound to thy glory ! 

While the Holy Spirit was playing upon human 
heart-strings, touching the various cords of pride, 
doubt, humility, in Xaaman, a little girl held in her 
little brown hand the destiny of tivo mighty nations. 
Kings were trembling on their thrones. " Consid- 
er, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel 
against me." Already her few earnest words had 
given birth to a bright hope in the heart of a suf- 
ferer. Hex simple speech had harnessed the char- 
iot, and dressed in holiday attire the servants of 
her master. They had sent him to Elisha, Elisha 
to the king, and brought back the ungallant reply 
from the prophet. Now they are to undress the 
general, plunge him " seven times '' in a dirty little 
stream, in sight of his servants. I tell you, little 
girls, the pride was washed out of him when he 
arose the last time. . 

Naaman went to the river Jordan, not believing 



158 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

much in it; still, the mere act of going shows that 
he had a little faith. "It may be so — I will go 
and try it." So he went. He gave one plunge, 
and said, "Now, while I am about it, I might as 
well go through with it;" so he gave another, and 
another, his faith increasing with every dip ; final- 
ly, the seventh plunge, when — joy! — to his great 
astonishment and delight, he came up with the 
loathsome sore gone entirely, and his^whole person 
fair and beautiful as an infant fresh from the green 
fields and amaranthine bowers of baby-land. He 
returned, delighted with the result, to tell Elisha 
that now he knew, for a certainty, that there was 
none other God save the God of Elisha — a soul 
saved perhaps, a corrupted body purified, through 
the influence of a captive servant-girl. Surely God 
chooses the weak things of earth to confound the 
mighty. 

Naaman, out of the gratitude of an honest heart, 
wished to pay Elisha for his great recovery, but 
the prophet refused. He was suflSciently rewarded 
in the praises that Naaman rendered to his God. 
A Christian desires no glory, no praise, to any but 
Jesus. He is simply a sinner, bowed down by the 
dreadful leprosy of sin, and when He washes the 
stain away — not seven times in Jordan, but once 
in His own precious blood — ^there is no room in his 
heart for any thing but love. Shame on those 



THE LITTLE TUG-BOAT. 159 

Christians who are afraid of blame, and still more 
on those who expect praise for doing their duty ! 

We all have consciences, and, in a gospel-land, 
it is reasonable to suppose that all have Bibles, and 
'■the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth ;" then, 
as individuals, let us do all the good we can, think- 
ing of nothing, fearing but our God. If we are 
censured, let us look into our hearts, and be sure 
we are doing our duty; then what matters it? If 
God sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts in such 
power that we cannot sin, how are we better than 
others ? Under the same circumstances, with their 
temperaments and temptations, we might have done 
worse. We know not what we can stand until we 
are tried. 

In this story we see what influence a few simple 
words may exert over the lives of others. The 
child spoke from the fullness of her sympathetic 
little heart. The Holy Spirit attended the words, 
and we see the result — at least, a part of it — eter- 
nity alone can reveal the whole. Always speak 
kindly. Aim at great things — I mean, struggle to 
be truthful, pure, holy — in other words, be like 
God as revealed to you in the character of hia 
Son. 



JO ASH. 



"Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent reignetli." Eev 
xix. 6. 

AHAZIAH, king of Judah, was slain by order 
of Jehu, king of Israel. This enraged Ath- 
aliah, his mother, who was a wicked woman, to 
such an extent that she sent forth and slew all the 
seed-royal that she could get. Jehosheba, the sis- 
ter of Ahaziah, daughter of Athaliah, and wife of 
Jehoiada, the high-priest, took the infant Joash, 
the youngest son of Ahaziah, and his nurse, and 
hid them in the temple. 

A careless observer would say. What a coinci- 
dence ! how strange ! The Messiah was to be a di- 
rect descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and of 
the tribe of Judah. How very slight the probabil- 
ity now is of his coming down in that way ! Here 
we see a wicked woman, lost to every womanly 
feeling, seeking revenge, and murdering the chil- 
dren of her dead son. To such depths will sin 
lead the human soul, when the heart-angel becomes 
a demon. When once baptismal vows are forgot- 
ten, God is forsaken, and he withdraws his grace 

Ci60) 



JOASH. 161 

from us. By the merest accident, humanly speak- 
ing, a little infant, scarcely a year old, is saved 
from the massacre — stolen from among the other 
children by his aunt. What inspired this good 
woman to save this child, the baby? The othei 
children were more likely to live ; they had passed 
the perils of infancy, cutting teeth, measles, whoop- 
ing - cough, or whatever diseases were prevalent 
among infants of those days — he had it all to 
pass through. Uninspired by God, she would have 
saved one of the others. God has one grand, mag- 
nificent plan for the good of his people and his own 
eternal glory. Our finite minds cannot compre- 
hend it, in its vastness and unity. We, saints and 
sinners, Jew and Gentile, male and female, grown 
people and children, are each one, voluntarily or 
reluctantly, filling our places and performing our 
parts, but not disturbing the unity of the scheme. 
Once in awhile seeming accidents bring to light 
bright glimpses of His purposes. This is one of 
them, coming in so naturally that we almost forget 
God's part of the work. 

Joash and his nurse are hidden a short time in 
the house of his aunt, then carried to the temple, 
where he remains six years, Jehoiada, the high- 
priest, all these years instructing the loyal people 
scattered about over the kingdom, and preparing 
their hearts to receive the little king. His auni 
11 



162 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

was trainiDg his young mind, and directing his lit- 
tle feet to walk in wisdom's ways. 

Athaliah all this time was on the throne, and the 
people were groaning under a w^orse than Egyptian 
bondage. When Jehoiada could safely do so, he 
armed his men with spears and shields, provided 
by David long before his death. He then appoint- 
ed three places in the temple ; the trumpeters too 
were there. I wonder why people always make a 
noise when they are happy. Joy is always boister- 
ous, while grief is quiet, O so quiet ! A heart bub- 
bling over with happiness will be heard ; one may 
break with grief, and we hear no sound. 

All things being in readiness, the child was led 
in by his aunt, and the ceremonies of the corona- 
tion began. The oil of consecration was poured 
on his young head — the crown worn by Saul, Da- 
vid, Solomon, and many others, was placed upon 
it — the testimony put in his hand; and he is no 
longer a child — fanciful, frolicking in the sun- 
beams — but king of a mighty nation. 

The ceremonies being completed, the trumpeters 
])lew their trumpets ; the people clapped their hands, 
and cried, " God save the king ! '' Only think of a 
child seven years of age creating so much joy in 
the nation! Every child cannot be a king here, 
but he can create joy, and fit himself for a mem- 
ber of the grand coronation-party, when we shall 



JOASH. 163 

"bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him 
Lord of all." The old high-priest was the happi- 
est one there, because to him and his wife the peo- 
ple were indebted for their joy. No wonder those 
down -trodden Jews were happy. Athaliah, the 
grandmother of the infant monarch, had been rul- 
ing the kingdom with a rod of iron six years, since 
the death of Ahaziah. What an age those six 
years seemed, Avhen spent in misery and degrada- 
tion ! These people who were looking for a Mes- 
siah to come from the tribe of Judah now see their 
last hope drowned in the blood of Ahaziah's chil- 
dren. He cannot come from Jehosheba's line, 
though she is the daughter of a king, because her 
husband is a Levite. The last star of hope is set 
forever, so far as they can see — all is darkness and 
despair. Their God has not only vacatod the holy 
of holies, but actually left their hearts. What 
Samuel can lift the veil of futurity, and penetrate 
the mysteries of the mind of God? What can any 
of us do when hope has fled? Why, trust in God 
still. The grand old plan in his mind is still per- 
fect, though every star fall from heaven. Atha- 
liah, the terror of the people, Jehoiada and his 
wife, baby Joash — all are only perfecting the 
scheme, as they follow their different life -paths. 
When your last earthly friend has deserted you, 
your last nickel gone, health and strength fled, and 



164 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

black despair is closing around you, still tmst in 
God. N"o matter how dark and deep the ocean of 
trial, the sun still shines, though storms may come 
between. If we are God's children, bought and 
paid for, the receipt signed in blood on Calvary, he 
will see us safely anchored on the other side. Do 
you think he will allow the world to steal one of 
the jewels he bought to sparkle in his crown? . No, 
never, never, never ! 

Imagine the joy and surprise of the people as 
they are called — some to protect, some to be the 
witnesses, and some to make a noise — on this grand 
festival occasion — the coronation of a direct male 
descendant of the tribe of Judah. Thus God's 
children are sometimes hidden from the world till 
circumstances bring them into notice. What cared 
these down-trodden Jews that it was a child? The 
blood of the royal David and Solomon was flowing 
in his young veins — their own precious king, after 
six long years of servitude and female usurpation. 

While the little king stood by the pillar in the 
temple, his wicked grandmother, Athaliah, heard 
the people clapping their hands, and shouting, " God 
save the king ! " and came to see what was the cause 
of it. The old woman was not accustomed to 
sounds of joy. She rent her clothes, and cried, 
"Treason! treason!" Jehoiada, the high -priest, 
then commanded the captains to take her out of 



JOASH. 165 

the house, but not to slay her in the temple. This 
command was gladly obeyed, and when they were 
near the king's palace she was slain. What a pity 
that happy day should have been marred by so 
terrible a deed ! To rid the world of a tyrant may 
be commendable, but what a pity we cannot get rid 
of them without the shedding of blood ! 

The people, in their joy, then went to the temple 
of Baal, and broke down his altars and images, 
and slew his priest. Then Jehoiada made a cove- 
nant between the Lord and the people, then be- 
tween the little king and the people, that they 
should be the Lord's. 

When fully established on the throne of his fa- 
thers, the land enjoying rest from all the attacks 
of their enemies, and from idolatry, they began 
repairing the temple, cutting down the groves, and 
breaking the images and altars of Baal. Jehoi- 
ada, I suppose, was the power veiled from sight, 
and through him and his judicious T\ife the pros- 
perity of Israel lasted until the child was old enough 
to hold the reins of government in his own hands. 



UZZIAH, THE LEPER. 



" Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he 
fall." 

AZAKIAH, or Uzziah, the twelfth king of Ju- 
dah, was the son of Amaziah and Jecholiah, 
of Jerusalem. He ascended the throne at the age 
of sixteen. Zachariah was the chief prophet of 
the land at that time. For several years Uzziah 
held sweet and constant intercourse with the God 
of his fathers. His young life was full of activity. 
He spent his time in improving his kingdom, by 
building cities and towns, digging wells, planting 
vineyards and olive-orchards. He also fought vic- 
torious battles. What an energetic granger he 
would have made ! for he " loved husbandry." Tru- 
ly, a man who loves to see the green grass growing, 
the flowers blooming, and who loves to hear the 
birds singing, and enjoys nature — which is simply 
one of the robes God wears when he wishes to man- 
ifest himself to us — must have been a good man. 
Uzziah was so prosperous and happy, and he seemed 
to have lived in an atmosphere of love for several 
years, but "the high places were not taken down/' 

(166) 



UZZIAH, THE LEPER. 167 

All through the books of Kings and Chronicles we 
ha^e this strange statement staring us in the face. 
It flashes out at us so unexpectedly — so and so was 
a good king, walked in the ways of his father, did 
this and that good thing, but — "the high places 
were not taken down." What does it mean? and 
why were they not taken down? Why was the 
fact repeated so often? Is it because there is a 
spiritual meaning inclosed in the words? Have 
we high places of pride, envy, or selfishness, in our 
hearts still untaken down? Surely the Old Testa- 
ment is not a bare statement of dry facts. No, my 
dear children, the Bible is the inspired word of 
God, every syllable richly laden with a spiritual 
meaning, for the adornment of your minds and 
souls. 

Uzziah was happy and prosperous as long as he 
trusted in his God. There seems to be between 
man's soul and his Maker a spiritual telegraphic 
wire, on which the messages of love fly quickly 
back and forth. Man prays ; the Father leans over 
the jasper-walled city, smiles, remembers Calvary 
— the prayer is answered. Man's faith must be as 
omnipotent as God's power. These two principles 
in the scales of heaven must balance each other 
perfectly. 

Uzziah's reign was longer than that of any other 
king of Judah; but,. alas, such a reign! The lat- 



168 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

ter part of it was dark and miserable, blighting 
all the glory of the first years. It comes not within 
the scope of this volume to state why Uzziah failed 
so sadly after he was fully established on the throne. 
One single sin, that required, perhaps, ten minutes 
for its commission, brought all the trouble. By 
one daring act of impiety this almost faultless 
young man brought ruin on himself, his family, 
and his whole kingdom — turned around, by his one 
daring act, the face of a reconciled Father, and 
changed it to one of frowning wrath. Uzziah, in 
his pure, brave boyhood, little dreamed that he 
would openly insult God in his own temple, in spite 
of love for him, and the entreaties of about fifty 
priests — ^that he would take a censer and offer in- 
cense to God — a fearful crime for one not born to 
execute that high ofiice. He little thought that 
God would lay his hand in leprous judgment on 
him. But such are the facts: while burning the 
incense, a white spot arose on his forehead, and he 
was turned out of the temple, to dwell "in a sev- 
eral house," alone, bitterly alone, until released 
from his suffering by the hand of death. 

From the life of this man, it seems that one can 
love God, and be a Christian for years, then com- 
mit a fearful sin, and be lost forever. Uzziah may 
have reperded while living alone — he had ample 
time for it; but suppose he had been struck dead, 



UZZIAH, THE LEPER. 169 

as Ananias and Sapphira were — and they were 
Christians — dying with a black spot untouched by 
the blood of Christ, how could he have been saved ? 
We must abide in Him day by day. Paul feared 
that, after preaching to others, he might become a 
castaway. In Christ alone is safety; then stay in 
him — one moment out may be fatal. Noah was 
safe while he was in the ark, but if he had jumped 
out he would have been lost. We can get out of 
Christ and be lost — ^he will not force us into heaven. 
Our souls, once so white and pure, by virtue of the 
cleansing blood of Calvary, can again be polluted 
with sin — yes, one moment willftiUy out of Christ 
will do our work as effectually as the swinging of 
the censer in the hands of Uzziah did for him. 1 
hope he repented, and was saved. But let us quit 
sin — let us take down the high places from our 
hearts, and cling to Jesus. 



JO 8 1 AH. 



"Be strong and of a good courage, for the Lord thy God 
is with thee." 

JOSIAH was the son of Amon and Jedidah, of 
the tribe of Judah. He ascended the throne 
of his fathers at the early age of eight years. In 
reading the Bible, we soon find ourselves most inter- 
ested in those characters who in some way typified 
our Saviour, or were in the direct line of his an- 
cestry. Of the characters in this book, the follow- 
ing are the ancestors of our Saviour : Isaac, Jacob, 
David, Joash, Uzziah, and Josiah. Like the jewel 
in the swine's snout, Josiah stands the one bright 
star in a long night of moral darkness. 

David, "the man after God's own heart," had 
lived, suffered, and died, leaving the kingdom to 
Solomon, his son, the wisest man who ever lived. 
Solomon, like our first father, was led into sin by 
his wife — wives rather, for their name was legion. 
His son Rehoboam, more wicked than himself, next 
ascended the throne. In his reign, ten of the twelve 
tribes revolted, and went ofi* into idolatry, and were 
lost forever, leaving the tribe of Benjamin and Ju^ 

(170) 



JOSIAH. 171 

dah. King after king succeeded, each one an im- 
provement in wickedness on the other. Some of 
them made faint efforts to restore the reh'gion of 
their fathers to its primitive purity, but had not the 
moral courage to complete the good work. 

Why Josiah was so much better than his prede- 
cessors is unknown, as immorality and vice seemed 
to be hereditary, and he had bad blood, as well as 
bad example, to contend against. Possibly he in 
herited good from Jedidah. At the age of sixteen 
he began to seek after the God of David with his 
whole heart. In the twelfth year of his reign, he 
began to purge Jerusalem from the high places, 
and the groves, and the carved images, and the 
molten images. On ascending the throne, the 
child's first act was to begin purifying and ridding 
the country of its corruptions. Perhaps some will 
say, "0 yes; but his officers, counselors, or high- 
priests, acted for him." To be sure they did ; but 
had he been a bad boy, his advisers would have been 
bad men. Manasseh, at twelve years of age, on 
his accession to the throne, did nothing good. Jo- 
siah tore down the altars of Baal, leveled his mount- 
ains, filled up his valleys, killed his horses and 
priests, burnt them, and sprinkled the ashes over 
the country. While carrying on this destructive 
work, he went to the sepulchers, and, probably 
with his own boyish hands, assisted in tearing them 



172 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

up, and, while thus engaged, he saw a small, un- 
pretending monument, and asked who was buried 
there. He was informed that it was the grave of 
the prophet from Samaria, who had foretold the 
things he was then doing ; therefore he ordered it 
to be left untouched. 

In the eighteenth year of his reign, while still 
quite young, he determined to restore the temple. 
Accordingly, he sent for carpenters, builders^ and 
masons, ordered Hilkiah, the high-priest, to calcu- 
late the cost of rebuilding, then appointed men to 
control the buying of timber and stone. What a 
young man he was ! what an honor to his nation ! 
Money was so plentiful in those days that they sel- 
dom counted it. While the work of tearing down, 
preparatory to rebuilding, was going on, Hilkiah 
found an old book of the law among the rubbish. 
It was all yellow with age, crumpled, and defaced, 
but he gave it to Shaphan, the scribe, who carried 
it to the young king. Josiah commanded him to 
read it. He did so ; and, while the scribe is read- 
ing, the fair, young face of the king becomes more 
and more clouded. Shame, deep grief, finally de- 
spair, shakes his soul to its very center. What is 
the matter? That honest face, so bright usually, 
now so miserable ! Whv, he has forsaken the Lord 
— entirely forgotten his law — and now is groping 
in moral darkness, and going rapidly down to the 



JOSIAH. 173 

regions of the lost. The whole nation is in the 
same condition — instead of being a relief, it only 
serves to make more severe his sufferings. Noav^ 
this faint glimmer from the book, like a flash of 
forked lightning in a dark night, shows only too 
plainly the terrible pit to which the whole nation 
is so rapidly hastening. 

We have forsaken His law — His wrath is upon 
us. Who can read this experience of Josiah, and 
say that ignorance is not a sin ? Josiah could not 
have been lost, because his loill to do right was so 
strong — he would have been saved, but the people, 
who were not anxious on the subject, would all 
have been lost. God always rewards an earnest, 
ignorant seeker after truth. That pure, holy boy, 
so intensely anxious to do right, is dashing headlong 
down to eternal ruin, and did not know it, until a 
seeming accident (Christians call it providence) re- 
vealed to him the precipice on which he stood, and 
the boiling, black waters of perdition below. Boys, 
beware of ignorance. It is criminal, in this en- 
lightened age, under the full blaze of gospel-light, 
not to know your duty. I know of only one sin 
that is worse, and that is, to know it, and fail to 
do it. 

The priest, endeavoring to comfort the distressed 
young king, informed him that there was a proph- 
etess in Jerusalem, Huldah by name. He there- 



174 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

fore sent to her for advice. She sent word liy the 
messenger that because the people had forsaken 
God's law, thrown down his altars, and bowed the 
knee to Baal, his wrath was kindled against them, 
and they should be punished. A national calam- 
ity ! A whole people — innocent children, good and 
holy women, a few sincere, honest men — suffering 
because they have forsaken their God! Ah! we 
know how to sympathize with them; w^ know 
what national punishment means, for, like the Is- 
raelites of old, we have forsaken the God of our 
fathers — instead of worshiping him, we kneel to a 
god whose name is Mammon. Nationally we wor- 
ship, not a golden calf — better for us, perhaps, if 
we could, as a nation, unite on one — but, literally, 
we worship intellect, fashion, appearances, money. 
We deify all sorts of things, and our children bow 
down to their own sweet wills. 

Josiah's sin being ignorance, not willful disobe- 
dience, he shall not suffer with the people ; but God, 
in mercy, promised to take him to himself, and not 
allow him to see the evil that shall befall the na- 
tion, because he humbled himself, and turned to 
righteousness. Brave boy ! Holy Writ says there 
never was a king who so entirely obeyed God ; and 
his life, coming between a long line of evil kings, 
on each side casts a radiance that is really daz- 
zling. 



JOSIAH. 175 

Having commenced the work of destruction, it 
goes bravely on: the people, having entered into a 
solemn covenant with Josiah, worked with an en- 
ergy rarely equaled. He broke down the houses 
of the Sodomites, where the women wove hangings 
for the groves. He brought the priests of Baal to 
the city, killed them, defiled the high places where 
they burnt incense. He broke down the gates of 
Joshua, defiled Topheth, so that no man might 
make his son or daughter to pass through the fire 
to Molech. He then took away the horses and 
chariots of the sun, broke down the altars and tem- 
ples made by Ahaz and Manasseh, and cast the 
dust into the brook Kidron.' Well may he be called 
iconoclast — image-breaker. In those things Josi- 
ah's moral courage stands unparalleled in the his- 
tory of the nation, reminding me of the Saviour, 
gentle Lamb of God, as he entered the temple hun- 
dreds of years afterward, and with a soul almost 
bursting with anger (righteous indignation), and 
eyes flashing fire, he overthrew the tables of the 
money-changers, rolling money, tables, and men 
too, for aught I know, on the floor together; then, 
picking up some small cords, he made a scourge, 
and whipped them out of the temple, saying, "It 
is written. My house shall be called the house of 
prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves," 
How like an enraged earthquake the Lamb was 



176 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

that day ! O Sunday-school teachers, your Lamb 
is a lion when his house is desecrated, innocence 
abused, justice driven out! Don't let your little 
ones think of Jesus as a milk-and-water sort of man 
—one of those kind for whom you have no respect, 
leach them that he was a real man, possessing, 
with all his gentleness, more courage than all the 
Lees and Jacksons in the world. He was infinite 
courage incarnate. 

But Jesus is not Josiah. The latter, a boy of 
sixteen, setting his face like a flint against a whole 
nation, because God commanded, is one of the 
grandest examples of moral courage to be found 
on record in any nation. Having finished the de- 
structive part of the work, and the work of res- 
toration completed, he ordered a grand passover 
- —and what a grand aflair it was ! No one since 
the days of Samuel had ever witnessed such im- 
posing ceremonies; and love, joy, and gratitude 
to God commingled, were the. soul of the feast. 
How sweet the little herbs were that day! How 
tliey must have enjoyed telling the story of Is- 
rael's escape from Egyptian bondage, and now re- 
joicing over their present and still more glorious 
deliverance ! 

Josiah's life was one of continued activity. He 
seemed to feel that he was chosen by God to do a 
certain great work within a given time, and he bent 



JOSIAH. 



177 



every energy of his soul to the accomplishment of 
this work; and now he enjoys a blessed rest from 
his labors, while we have his example to stimulate 
and encourage us in driving out all idolatry from 
our hearts. 
12 




DANIEL 



"Touch not, taste not, handle not." 
A SKILLFUL chemist, by the careful exam- 
-.^^^j-- ination and analysis of one drop of Atlantic 
water, can tell what the ocean is, but can form no 
idea of its sublimity and grandeur; so sometimes 
we can take a single expression falling from the 
lips of a man accidentally, and find a clew by 
which we may enter the secret labyrinths of his 
entire life, but we cannot see that life in all its 
greatness till we view it in the light of the judg- 
ment-day. 

Grandly floating down the stream of time ccme 
these words from the lips of one of the purest and 
bravest boys that ever lived — a slender thread by 
which we may enter his young soul, and see many 
beauties; but we cannot see that life in all its rich- 
ness till that day for which all other days were 
made shall dawn on us — a lad who impressed him- 
self for good, not only on the hearts of kings and 
princes, but on us who live so many centuries after 
him : " But Daniel purposed in his heart that he 
would not defile himself with the portion of the 

(178) 



DANIEL. 179 

king's meat, nor with the wines which he drank; 
therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs 
that he might not defile himself." This single ex- 
pression, if we had no other, would prove that a 
great man was the natural result of such glorious 
promise in so young a boy. These words express 
a volume of one of the grandest of human poems. 
Daniel, a descendant of the tribe of Judah, was 
born of unknown parentage, in Ephraim, about 
532 B.C. He was, perhaps, of the family of Zed- 
ekiah, that king of Judah who had his eyes put 
out by his enemies. Daniel lived in Babylon when 
Ezekiel did. Jeremiah was then in Jerusalem. 
Obadiah also lived there. Daniel's mother must 
have been a woman of great faith, purity, and 
courage. No fashionable lady ever trained the 
mind or molded the spirit of a Daniel. He stands 
by the side of Moses, Joseph, and Josiah, in man- 
hood, and the elements of greatness were in the 
boy — yea, in the baby — or they never could have 
developed in the man. He, with other noble youths, 
was taken captive to Babylon, as hostages, by King 
Nebuchadnezzar. The king commanded Ashpenaz 
to select from the captives some to stand before him 
to minister to his various wants. They were to be 
healthy and beautiful physically. Beauty of coun- 
tenance very often typifies beauty of soul, as evil 
passions and feelings leave their impress upon the 



180 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

face — deeper and deeper becomes the scowl of im- 
patience every time the- feeling is indulged. They 
were to be quick and bright intellectually, and pure 
and holy spiritually; so Daniel, Hananiah, Mish- 
ael, and Azariah, were chosen. They were about 
sixteen or seventeen years of age. Some commen- 
tators allow Daniel only twelve years at this most 
interesting period of his history. These boys had 
been carefully trained, perhaps, by loving mothers 
in their homes in Jerusalem. What an excellent 
training-school is a happy home, surrounded by fa- 
ther, mother, sisters and brothers, old maiden aunt, 
and grandmother, with her quiet ways! What a 
holy atmosphere pervades the place ! 

Daniel was a beautiful boy, modest and intelli- 
gent ; so God soon brought him into favor and ten- 
der love with Ashpenaz. Think of that boy's ten- 
der love wdth Ashpenaz ! Did any of you ever ask 
God to bring you into tender love with a man in 
power, because he was wise and good? One of the 
greatest blessings of my life has been that God has 
often brought me into favor and tender love with 
those far superior to myself in wisdom and good- 
ness. The very fact that your image is enshrined 
in the heart of a good man — that your name is 
wafted on the wings of faith and prayer to the 
throne of God — is a blessing of no small magni- 
tude. 



DANIEL. 181 

God raised up Daniel as a witness for himself in 
wicked Babylon. In this respect he reminds us of 
Joseph and Moses in Egypt — yea, the gentle Jesus 
was taken captive from his native skies, and, en- 
chained by love divine, remained in captivity thir- 
ty-rhree years, only he was a willing captive. When 
we consider how the seen and animal parts of oui 
natures predominate over the unseen and spiritual 
in childhood and youth — when we remember that 
our greaiest enjoyment consisted in eating, drink- 
ing, and sight-seeing — then we shall realize, to some 
extent, the power of the purpose in the heart of 
this boy not to defile himself. Again, we must not 
forget that he was a captive, hungering for his 
home, and a sight of the temple, in which he had 
so often worshiped the God of his fathers. Expe- 
diency would have shouted, in trumpet-tones, in his 
ears, "Compromise a little! where is the harm of 
enjoying the good things of life?'^ Life is not put 
here for the sole sake of being enjoyed. This world 
is a great workshop — toils, groans, blood, sweat, 
and hardships, are the rule. God made the world 
as a place of dis.cipline ; he made us ; he made the 
tools — faith, hope, charity — and placed them in our 
hands, then gave the command. Carve out a char- 
acter fit to associate with the angels. God gives 
faith, but he does not exercise it. Expediency 
would have said, " You will lose your influence if 



182 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

you do not. You are away from your temple ; God 
will not hold you to a strict account. * Circum- 
stances alter cases/ 'In Kome, do as Rome does/ 
Follow the fashion — other Jewish boys are doing 
it/' But no ; Daniel purposed in his heart — away 
down in that portion of his being unseen by all but 
God, where all real boyhood and manhood lies. He 
did not purpose in his brain, but in his soul, to re- 
main true to his God. His purpose was felt by his 
three friends, and, stimulated by his example, they 
too remained so firm that the fiery furnace, heated 
seven times hotter than ever before, could not even 
burn their clothing when they walked about amid 
its curling flames. Live close to Christ, and your 
very clothes will speak in eloquent strains of the 
love of God for you. What a glorious boy was this 
Daniel, who "hung his harp on the willows" of 
Babylon and wept, and who "sung the songs of 
Zion in a strange land! " How firmly he resisted 
appetite, the king's displeasure, and the tender love 
of his friends! What an all-conquering, self-kill- 
ing love he must have felt for God ! 

The Babylonians were very true to their home- 
made deities, and offered in sacrifice to them a por- 
tion of all their meats and drinks; so Daniel knew, 
if he ate of their royal dainties, that he would be 
obliged to eat food offered to idols, and this was 
forbidden by the Jewish law. Daniel did not think 



DANIEL. 183 

of compromise, but simply requested, after the pur- 
posing in his heart that he would not eat of the 
king's food, that he and his friends might live on 
pulse and water — a kind of vegetable diet — for ten 
days, then be examined to see if they were poorer 
in flesh than the others. 

At the end of ten days, Melzar examined them, 
and found their countenances fairer and fatter than 
those who were fed from the king's table. " Better 
is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled 
ox and hatred therewith." 

Daniers fidelity secured a friend in the king, and 
he arose to great eminence in the kingdom. His 
very humility of character was the elevator on 
which he arose, like Joseph of old, to be the second 
man in the kingdom. A woman hid a little leaven 
in three measures of meal, and the leaven gave life 
and power to the meal, and the whole mass arose; 
so humility in a boy of character raises the whole 
being. Jesus stooped to humanity's level, and 
raised us, with himself, above the angels. 

Daniel would not touch the king's wines. O for 
a race of Daniels to arise, who will purpose in their 
hearts not to .eat or drink from the tables of the 
kings of this world — who will stand by their pur- 
pose, firm as the Rock of Ages! Every boy has 
his own peculiar temptations spread out before hira 
in this great Babylon of sin; to shut himself up. 



184 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

or run away from them, is — well, Jesus did not do 
that. He was in the world, walking about, talk- 
ing, preaching, praying, suffering; he attended din- 
ner-parties, weddings, visited socially — in fact, was 
very man, except the sin. 

Now, boys, the kings — the great, puffed-up Neb- 
uchadnezzars of this world — will offer you a por- 
tion of their meats and drinks. You know they 
are forbidden ; you know they are offered to false 
gods; you know it is wrong to touch the royal 
dainties. What will you do about it? Be true to 
God, no matter if it does lead to a den of hungry 
lions — and Daniel's heart - purpose did lead him 
there. But what was the result? God was with 
him; angel -wings cooled the air about him — an- 
gels' hands were laid over the hungry mouths of 
the lions. From that den he stepped to the high- 
est position in the kingdom next to the king. His 
companions, stimulated by his heart-purpose, found 
themselves rudely thrown into a fiery furnace ; and 
they were burnt up, were they? That would have 
been bad for a few minutes, but the chariots of fire 
have landed more than one rejoicing Elijah on the 
shining shores of the city of God. God had other 
work for them, however; so they coolly walked 
about in the furnace, like salamanders incased in 
asbestus, and talked to another fire-proof man like 
unto the Son of God. Fire burns only dross — it 



DANIEL. 185 

purifies true metal. What splendid refined gold 
these young men must have been made of! The 
lion's mouth has served as a chariot* of pearl to 
land many rejoicing souls on the other side; but it 
is none of our business how we die, where or when. 
Our business is to live right, denying ourselves, 
taking up our crosses, purposing in our hearts, day 
by day, that we will not defile ourselves with the 
meats from the king's table, and with the wines 
which he drinks. 

It is a very beautiful custom, in some of our cities, 
for the gentlemen to call on their lady-friends, and 
see them, in their nicely-arranged parlors, looking 
their prettiest, in their new winter-dresses, and faces 
full of smiles, as they receive the congratulations 
of the season. Beautiful! and Daniel's angel, and 
the angel of the fiery furnace, look down from 
their palace in the skies, and smile brightly in re- 
turn. No doubt they almost wish they were human 
beings. Ah! if that were all — if the young man, 
so bright, fresh, and clear-headed, could only re- 
main so till midnight ! But in the brightest pict- 
ures there are always the darkest shades. Satan 
enters the young lady's heart — she does not know 
it, as she politely and sweetly ofiers him a glass of 
wine (fine wine, of course — who ever heard of in- 
ferior wine being used on New-year's-day ?). He 
is expected to take simply a sip — so says Babylon, 



186 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

or our own New Orleans, if you please. Only a little 
taste of wine from the king's table ! But you forgot 
to purpose in your heart not to defile yourself with 
the meats and the wines ; or, if you purposed, you 
did not purpose with your whole heart ; so, being 
polite, you have not the moral courage to refuse the 
lady. You taste. No harm done (?). Of course 
not. Had it been prussic acid it would not have 
hurt you. A humming-bird's head would not swim 
from that little. You were a polite coward — did 
your duty to the lady, and sinned against the God 
who made you, and who said, "No drunkard shall 
inherit the kingdom of God." 

You go to see the next young lady, and the same 
scene is enacted, only the wine is white this time. 
No scripture against white wines — no harm is done ; 
yet it may be. You go on and on, until you have 
taken only a sip of wine of all the colors of the 
rainbow. 

I saw a little stream of water, a few inches wide, 
run through a levee. I watched it, day by day, and 
in two weeks a whole plantation was completely 
ruined by the tremendous overflow. So, your New- 
year tippling is very small, perhaps, but it certainly 
leads to the overflow of soul and body into ever- 
lasting fire. Ah! there are Christian w^omen in 
this age and country who little dream that their 
sweet smiles and jew^eled fingers are making drunk- 



DANIEL. 187 

ards on New-year's-day. " Woe unto him that giv- 
eth his neighbor drink." 

The young man goes to see forty or fifty young 
ladies, takes forty or fifty drinks from forty or fifty 
tiny cut-glass goblets — at twelve o'clock, where, 
where is he? O young man ! why did you not pur- 
pose in your heart not to touch of the king's wine ? 
At night, while an anxious mother is praying in 
agony for her boy, you are hugging the lamp-post at 
the door, wondering how the house got turned around 
in your absence, or may be worse — rolling in the gut- 
ter, drunk as — I was going to say a dog, but 1 will 
not scandalize an innocent, soulless brute. This is 
a polite age of the world, and drunk is not a nice 
word. I should have said " intoxicated," " gentle- 
manly merry," "half-seas-over," "three sheets in 
the wind;" but I will make no apology — will not 
defile myself with the dainty words of the king of 
Babylon. I will not use polite, pretty expressions, 
to describe a sin that I abhor above all things — I 
mean drunk. I would rather see one of the boys 
I have taught in a fiery fiirnace, with a living 
Christ for company, or hear his bones cracking be- 
tween the jaws of a hungry lion, than to see him 
drunk, or on the high-road to drunkenness. 

Dear girls, make no compromise with the fiery 
fiend of intemperance. Dare to follow the teach- 
ings you receive, Sabbath after Sabbath, from your 



188 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE). 

teachers, and no drunkard will come howling from 
perdition, in the day of judgment, to catch your 
white robes, and hiss through fiery lips, with blaz- 
ing tongues, blue with alcoholic fumes, "I am lost 
forever through the little sip of wine I took at your 
New-year's reception ! " 

Children, be like Daniel ; dare to be true to God 
in this Babylon of worldliness, then lean hard 
against the Eock of Ages. In the name of my di- 
vine Master, and commissioned by him, on bended 
knee I entreat you to "taste not, touch not, handle 
not," those things that will certainly land you in a 
lake of fire and brimstone, where their worm dieth 
not, and the fire is not quenched. 



THE INFANT JESUS. 



ON one occasion, Moses was out in the wilder- 
ness, feeding his father-in-law's flocks, and, 
looking around, he beheld a bush burning brightly, 
still unconsumed. He started to examine it, when a 
voice from the flame uttered these words : " Put off 
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place w^hereon 
thou standest is holy ground." As Moses felt in 
the presence of that divine Personage, so I feel 
when writing the name, and attempting to say 
something, savingly, to the little ones, about the 
Child for luJiom all other babes were created. I 
would divest myself of all human feelings, forget 
my identity, and put myself in God's hands, beg- 
ging that he send his Holy Spirit to take possession 
of my heart, purify and inspire it, and guide my 
hand as he would have it go. I am not only touch- 
ing this sacred ground, but digging into it. I know 
of but one thing that fills me with greater solem- 
nity and awe, and it is this thought : Day by day, 
for years, I have worn the name of Christian, and 
have professed to be guided by Christ's teachings. 
What reproaches I have brought on the cause I 

(189) 



(90 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

What sins, both of omission and commission, I have 
committed ! How many times I have Jailed to bring 
others to Christ, eternity alone ivill tell. O how I 
wish I could gather every child into the fold of 
the gentle Shepherd ! God has gone out into every 
pain we ever felt in our lives — he flashes in every 
smile, and sparkles in every falling tear — all nature 
i^ instinct with God. 

Four thousand years of misery and anxious wait- 
ing passed away ; the promise had been repeated, 
time after time; men, women, and children, lived, 
loved, suffered, and died; Malachi had run his 
course, prophesied, and been gathered to his fa- 
thers; the first glorious temple had long been in 
ruins, and a new one occupied its place ; a nation 
must be prepared — a language perfected. Finally, 
the people, through intense suffering and humilia- 
tion, having now reached the proper point — the 
language perfected — Jesus comes, teaches his doc- 
trines, accomplishes his work; the language dies, 
the nation is scattered, each carrying his religion 
with him, and inculcating it. The Greek language 
is a dead one, but that precious dialect needs no 
improvement; neither is there any longer a na- 
tional religion — no longer a God shining in a liv- 
ing flame on an altar — but the glorious prediction 
of Jesus fulfilled : " The hour cometh when ye shall 
neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, wor- 



THE INFANT JESUS. 191 

ship the Father," but a Shekinah in every heart, 
and a God manifest in every thing, when seen 
through the grand old telescope of faith. 

At last, in God's good time, while a world was at 
peace, Mary, the wife of Joseph the carpenter, gave 
birth to the long-looked-for Messiah — Jesus, be- 
cause he would save the people from their sins — 
Immanuel, God with us — Christ, the Anointed. Jo- 
seph and Mary both descended from the tribe of 
Judah, as prophesied — were very poor, but had the 
blood of royalty in their veins, and, with every one 
else of their nation, were anxiously expecting a 
Saviour. 

When the set time had come for "the day-spring 
from on high" to visit the people, an angel from 
heaven — even Gabriel, God's especial favorite — 
was sent to bring the glad tidings. Joseph and 
Mary were then living in Xazareth. The angel 
appeared to Mary, and informed her that she should 
be the mother of the promised Saviour. She felt 
overpowered, and magnified God, for conferring 
such an honor on her. 

Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be 
taxed, according to a decree of the Roman Em- 
peror, Csesar Augustus, as the Jews were then a 
conquered nation, and were compelled to abide by 
the Roman laws. The various inns and public 
houses of the city were crowded, owing to this tax- 



192 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

ation ; bo J oseph, being a stranger, wandered about 
from house to house till quite late, then sought ref- 
uge, with his lovely wife, in a stable. That night 
God the Son left the shining courts of the New 
Jerusalem, "wrapped our humanity around his di- 
vinity," and became a tiny, wailing infant. His 
mother, having no friend or servant near, " wrapped 
nim in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a man- 
ger," thus fulfilling another prophecy. How clear- 
ly God had marked out the path for him! how 
plainly the prophets had foretold it ! and w^ith what 
courage and patience he walked therein! Was 
ever condescension so great? Was ever mortal 
woman so honored? Surely the blessed virgin 
must have been a pure and holy woman, or God 
would not have chosen her to be the mother of his 
well-beloved Son — to guide his tottering footsteps 
through infancy and boyhood — ^to be his soother 
and comforter while walking through the slippery 
paths of life up to manhood. Blessed woman ! As 
Protestants, I fear we are somietimes wanting in re- 
spect for her memory. Jesus loved her devotedly, 
and, with his expiring breath, commended her to 
the care of his favorite disciple, as they stood, al- 
most heart-broken, by his cross, weeping over a 
common sorrow. While I am writing these lines, 
she is, I doubt not, singing the song of redemption 
through the blood of her own dear Son. 



THE INFANT JESUS. 193 

Right here the infidel throws down his Bible in 
disgust. In the pomp and pride of his intellectual 
powers, given him by his despised God, he exclaims, 
" Impossible ! There is no reason, no common sense, 
in the Christian religion. J do not understand how 
the omnipresent God could roll himself up in an 
infant form, and be born, live, suffer, and die, as a 
man, sin excepted. J will not believe what I do 
not understand fully." Very well, friend infidel ; 
we will discard Jesus — deny the incarnation — and, 
in order to be reasonable and sensible, will not be- 
lieve a thing unless we can understand it. Do you 
understand how it is that you were once a little 
boy, in short dresses? You ate, drank, slept, and 
grew, but how? How is blood made? Why is it 
not blue ? Why should it be red ? Probably phys- 
iologists can explain these things — ask them, and 
they pile up long, hard words, till your breath is 
taken away, the substance of which is : Things are 
so, because they are so. We see a small, brown 
acorn fall from a tree — does the infidel refuse to 
believe that a mighty forest is inclosed in its little 
shell? It lies there — leaves and dirt cover it, dew 
and frost fall, the rains descend — finally, it rots. 
Surely all is over now. Not so : the little, invisi- 
ble life, that can be seen by no microscope— the 
soul, the germ, so like the spiritual body in man — 
is wide awake — electricity is doing its silent work 
13 



194 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

God is watching this little seed. Soon we see the 
acorn force its way through the earth, a root strikes 
downward, a green leaf appears — by and by an- 
other, then another. Days, weeks, and years, pass 
on ; the acorn sinks its root deeper, and still deeper, 
into the earth — its branches spread out on all sides. 
It inhales and exhales certain gases through its 
leaves, as we do with our lungs. Finally, ilowers 
aie produced, then hundreds and thousands of acorns 
/all, spring up, and, in their turn, form trees, until 
from one little seed there is a vast forest. How 
was it done? One man may be crushed almost to 
death, and still live on for years ; another may die 
from a pin-scratch. Why does the great muscle 
called the heart draw the blood from all parts of 
the body dark, then send it to the extremities 
bright crimson? Where is the life within? What 
part of our bodies contains our souls ? How is it 
that the diamond we value so highly and the com- 
mon charcoal are composed of the very same ele- 
ments? These things, belonging to nature, and 
not to the world of grace, ought to be easily ex- 
plained — they can be touched, weighed, measured; 
surel}' naturalists ought to know all about them. 
After they are explained satisfactorily , then my 
smallest Sunday-school child can tell all about the 
incarnation of God. My little Jackie, whose blue 
eyes have seen the orange-blooms five times, will 



THE INFANT JESUS. 195 

say that he loves Jesus because Jesus first loved 
him. But lioio the tendrils of his heart take hold 
on God — how he exercises his faith, why he be- 
lieves it — alas! his teacher cannot explain it. A 
Christian mind, being finite, is not expected to un- 
derstand infinity. A God comprehended ceases to 
be God, and every Christian can testify that Jeho- 
vah is an ever-present, prayer-answering Father. 
He lives in our hearts, unless we drive him away. 

Yes, children, Jesus was born; therefore, cele- 
brate your Christmas-days ; hang up your stock- 
ings, in anticipation of a visit from that omnipres- 
ent patron saint of the children, Kris Kringle; 
fire your rockets and Roman candles; be joyful, 
and have a good time. Remember the poor, and 
send them some of your Christmas-turkey and plum- 
pudding. Be happy, and make happy the atmos- 
phere around you, and Jesus, from his throne in 
heaven, will look down, remember Bethlehem's sa- 
cred manger, and rejoice with you. Blessed Babe ! 
As a galvanic battery sends an electric shock 
through millions of nerves at once, even so the 
name of Jesus thrills with joy a world of Christian 
hearts. 

At the time of this miraculously natural birth, 
there were shepherds on the plain, watching their 
flocks by night, and " the angel of the Lord came 
upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 



196 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

about them; and they were sore afraid. And the 
angel said unto them, Fear not ; for, behold, I bring 
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all 
people; for unto you is born this day, in the city 
of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, 
And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find 
the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a 
manger. And suddenly there was with the angel 
a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, 
and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, good-will toward men." The shep- 
herds then went to the city, and found the Babe, 
and they rejoiced ; and the glad solo commenced 
by the angel has been sounding on 1879 years, and 
the day is rapidly approaching when every knee 
shall bow, and every tongue shall join in the mighty 
chorus of praise to our God. 

While the shepherds were rejoicing, Herod, the 
wicked king, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with 
him ; he felt his throne tottering, his crown covered 
an aching head, his kingly robes hung uneasily 
upon him. He therefore sent three wise men to 
investigate this important matter, as he too was 
expecting a Messiah. Some say they came from 
three far-distant countries, and accidentally met in 
Jerusalem, and stopped to make inquiries concern- 
ing the new King. 

On leaving the city, they beheld a beautiful new 



THE INFANT JESUS. 197 

star, that no telescope had ever pointed out, glit- 
tering in space. They followed it, and, dancing 
and glimmering like a thing of life, it led them to 
a lowly stable, where it stopped. Joyfully the wise 
men entered the stable, and saw the beautiful Babe 
lying in a manger, and the happy, mystified mothei 
sitting near."^ The stable is not the clean, senti- 
mental-looking place that we may imagine, with 
the motherly cows and beautiful horses looking on 
with curious eyes at the strange proceedings, but a 
dark, filthy, cold, dismal cave. Yes, the infant 
Jesus, the very essence of neatness and purity em- 
bodied, opened his eyes in dirt and uncleanness. 

The wise men, when they saw him, presented him 
(not his mother) with gifts of gold, frankincense, and 
myrrh, thus acknowledging him King, as those were 
things too valuable for any one of inferior birth — • 
gold representing the pure and substantial charac- 
ter of the man, frankincense the rich spirituality 
of his nature, and myrrh the bitterness of his sor- 
rows. I know not how long they remained wor- 
shiping Am, but before they returned home God 
warned them in a dream not to return to Herod ; 
so they went home another way. 

^On one occasion Jesus said, "I, if I be lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all men unto me." As Mary lifted 
him from the manger, the drawing began. The wise men 
were the first to feel his magnetic influence. 



THE CHILD JESUS. 



AT the age of eight days, Jesus was circum- 
cised according to'the Jewish law. Thus 
we see, because of sin, the infant Saviour must 
shed his blood. When he was thirty-three days 
old, he was taken by his parents to the temple, to 
be presented to the Lord, according to the Leviti- 
cal law. Mary was too poor to offer a lamb, so she 
carried instead two turtle-doves, or two young pig- 
eons. After the ceremonies were over, an old man 
named Simeon, who had long waited for the conso- 
lation of Israel (for the Spirit had told him he 
should not die till he had seen the Lord's Christ), 
took him in his arms, and, with joyful tears in his 
old eyes, he raised them to heaven, and said, "Lord, 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac- 
cording to thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy 
salvation." Yes, thy salvation — God's own self, the 
second Person, wrapped in the fair, delicate form 
of an infant, has come for the salvation of the 
world. An old woman of eighty-four years also 
took the great God, manifest in the little form, in 
her arms, and prophesied. The omnipresent Cre- 

(198) 



THE CHILD JESUS. 199 

alor of the universe in the arms of an old woman ! 
What finite mind can grasp so overwhelming a 
fact? 

About two years passed rapidly away. Herod 
was all this time planning a way to get rid of this 
infant King. Things were quiet, as far as we know. 
Baby Jesus was playing around his mother's knee, 
in his strange, quiet way; no frown of anger or im- 
patience ever clouded that little brow; no cries 
ever disturbed that household, save occasionally 
from a fall or hurt of some kind. Other children 
came to the home of Joseph and Mary — boys and 
girls; they acted like other children; they were 
sick sometimes, had their little quarrels and make- 
ups; but the gentle Jesus was never sick, never 
troubled any one — was always peace -maker, was 
always as an angelic influence in that home, sanc- 
tifying unconsciously all things that came within 
his tiny reach. Mary often sat, at the hour of 
twilight, and wondered over her strange child — 
the visit of the angel ; and she studied the prophe- 
cies, and in silence her pure heart sought commun- 
ion with God, the Father of her boy. She perhaps 
compared his birth with Samuel's, Moses's, Sam- 
son's, and kept on pondering these things in her 
heart, and patiently w^aited the development of 
circumstances. 

When Jesus was about two years of age, Herod's 



200 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

wickedness reached a climax, and he ordered all 
male children under two years old to be killed. 
May be he washed to imitate King Pharaoh in his 
cruelty, or he may have forgotten that Pharaoh's 
wickedness was the sword that pierced the heart 
of his ow^n first-born on that passover-night. 

Just before Herod's order was put into execu- 
tion, the dream-angel w^hispered to Joseph in the 
hour of midnight, saying, Take the young child 
and flee into Egypt, for the king is in search of 
him, and he will surely be killed. Accordingly, 
they left their home in Nazareth, in great haste, 
and went into Egypt. 

How nicely every prophecy is fulfilled! "Out 
of Egypt have I called my Son." Dear old coun- 
try, once the center of the world's civilization, thou 
hast sheltered more than one of God's troubled 
ones! 

Joseph remained in Egypt about two years. 
Jesus was then four years old. At this time he 
heard that Herod was dead ; so he started home, 
but on the way he heard that Archelaus reigned. 
He then turned into Nazareth, fulfilling the proph- 
ecy, "He shall be called a Nazarene." 

From every step in the life of Jesus we learn 
lessons of purity. He was born of a virgin. The 
first blood shed in his cause was the blood of in- 
fancy. A new star lighted the wise men to the 



THE CHILD JESUS. 201 

manger. In his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, 
he rode a colt whereon never man sat. He hung 
on a new cross, and was laid in a new tomb. Ought 
we not, in view of these facts, to learn a beautiful 
lesson of consecration ? Surely it is our duty, and 
should be considered our highest privilege, to give 
our first, purest, and holiest afiections to him. Let 
us give him our hearts in our very infancy, before 
evil feelings, passions, and habits, are formed. Let 
us love him all through our lives, and consecrate 
all we have to him. Let us love him so devotedly 
that we will gladly deny ourselves— cheerfidly take 
up every cross for his dear sake. 

As child and man, Jesus hungered for love here. 
What means his heart-broken wail over Jerusalem? 
Why did he say, " Could ye not watch with me one 
hour?" and his impassioned "Peter, lovest thou 
me?" How soothingly fell on his very human 
heart the spikenard from Mary's precious box, for 
no reason only that " she loved much ! " Yes, Jesus 
hungered for love, and, as the enthroned King of 
heaven, he still hungers for the love of his chil- 
dren. 

Sacred history is as silent on the subject of the 
Saviour's childhood as it is on the how, when, and 
where, the disciples were baptized. " Eighteen years 
of this life, that are all the world to us, are lost in 
obscurity. We know that they were spent in Naza- 



202 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

retli, perhaps working at the carpenter's trade, as 
one said once, in derision, " Is not this the carpen- 
ter, the son of Mary?" The Bible is a strange 
book. It was written as a guide-book to the eter- 
nal city, and in that respect is perfect, and tells all 
that is necessary to our usefulness here, and our eter- 
nal happiness hereafter. It is singular in another 
respect, which proves its divine character. After 
reading the four Gospels, we are as ignorant of the 
color of the hair, eyes, and complexion of Jesus, as 
if they had never been written. The only descrip- 
tion we have are his words and works. We know 
nothing of how he was dressed, only that he wore 
a coat without seam, and woven throughout, and 
that it was gambled for at the foot of the cross by 
the soldiers. In Isaiah liii. we have his picture in 
word-painting, written hundreds of years before 
his birth, of great beauty and truthfulness. The 
Bible is the strangest book in existence. It is the 
word of life to a lo^t world, and done up in so 
small a compass that our pastor can easily carry it 
in his pocket. 

Jesus lived several years in Nazareth. He grew 
strong in spirit, " filled with wisdom, and the grace 
of God was upon him." I suppose, in this instance, 
grace means the Father's approbation and love, as 
it cannot mean the grace that fills a Christian's 
heart, for that is favor unmerited. He was perfect 



THE CHILD JESUS. . 203 

man and perfect God. Jesus, like other boys, had 
his hours of glee and frolic. Had he gone from 
the manger to the cross with a gloomy, unsmiling 
face, this very fact would have brought him into 
notice long before his time. He was tempted to 
commit sin, but not a sinful thought on sullied 
wing ever flitted across the pure transparency of 
his mind. I do n't know if he inherited sin from 
his mother, as he did the color of her hair or eyes ; 
if he did, then the grandeur of his character rises, 
if possible, to a still more magnificent height. To 
struggle against and overcome a tendency to wrong 
that is born in us is the most sublime victory the 
world ever witnessed. 

Laying aside conjecture, originality, or nonsense, 
we know that Jesus went with his mother and Jo- 
seph to celebrate the feast of the passover. I some- 
times try to imagine how this precious boy felt as 
he ate of the paschal lamb. Did he then know 
that it typified himself? As he saw the unblem- 
ished lamb slain, did he not have a vague, indis- 
tinct idea that he was to be ofiered up for the peo- 
ple? I have often wondered if he knew, when a 
child, that he was the lamb slain from the founda- 
tions of the world; or did he lay aside his infinite 
attributes? or did they lie quiescent within him 
until after the baptism? Did the shadow of the 
cross ever fall across his childish vision? Did the 



204 • CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

darkness of Gethsemane ever close around his 
youthful soul ? Did the beatific vision of Hermon 
ever strengthen him in the performance of child- 
ish duty? I believe he did feel these things to 
some extent, as we sometimes feel a presentiment 
of coming evil, or see the morning twilight of a 
bright hope or joy. One thing I do know — the 
bravest and brightest angels in heaven were dele- 
gated by the Father to attend the footsteps of this 
holy child. I know he grew from infancy to boy- 
hood and manhood without a shadow of sin on his 
soul. 

Little boys, this is no fancy sketch, wrought out 
by a vivid imagination, aided by a cup of strong 
coffee ; neither is it a novel-hero, but a real, living, 
human boy — flesh, blood, and bones — like your- 
selves, without the sin. Study his perfect character, 
and imitate it as much as lies in your power. 



THE BOY JESUS. 



"Even a child is known by his doings." Prov. xx. 11. 

WHEN Jesus was about twelve years of age, 
he went, as usual, with Mary and Joseph, 
to the passover, for he was a Jew, having descended 
in an unbroken line from Abraham. Though he 
was unstained by sin, having been born under the 
law, it was necessary for him to follow all the ordi- 
nances, fulfill all the prophecies, and attend to all 
the sacrifices and ceremonies of his religion. 

After they had finished sacrificing, " as they re- 
turned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusa- 
lem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 
But they, supposing him to have been in the com- 
pany, went a day's journey; and they sought him 
among their kinsfolk and acquaintance." At last 
they discovered that he was nowhere to be found, 
so they returned, in great distress, to Jerusalem, 
making inquiries, as they passed along, until they 
arrived at the temple. Poor Mary! this was the 
first trouble he ever caused her. Going into the 
temple, they saw the boy, with his handsome, young 
face all aglow with intelligence, and his fine, dark 

(205) 



206 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

eyes glistening with joy, at having an opportunity 
to acquire knowledge from the learned men of the 
land. Lawyers and doctors were delighted and 
astonished at the wonderful questions asked and 
answered by the little Jew. His education had 
been neglected, owing to poverty. One said, in 
surprise, on hearing him read these words in the 
temple one day, "He was led as a sheep to the 
slaughter," etc., " How does he happen to be so 
wise, never having learned his letters?" 

When his distressed mother found him thus en- 
gaged, instead of appreciating his feelings, and 
entering into his youthful joy, she said, in a re- 
proachful tone, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt 
with us? thy father and I have sought thee sor- 
rowing." The hoy Jesus ivas not understood by his 
own mother. Alone, alone, so bitterly alone on 
earth! Looking her respectfully but sorrowfully 
in the face, he said, "How is it that ye sought me? 
wist ye not that I must be about my Father's busi- 
ness?'* This is the first sentence from the incar- 
nate Son of God that has come down to us, and no 
sentence ever uttered by human lips is so richly 
laden with meaning. Gathering wisdom from the 
fountain hidden, at twelve years of age, because 
the Father's business demanded it! He seemed 
surprised at Mary's question, as if he had talked 
to her before this of his mission, and had explained 



THE BOY JESUS. 207 

it to her, as far as lie understood it. He knew, by 
a kind of divine instinct, that he was God, and 
Mary ought to have known it. This being the 
only recorded utterance of the boy God, we ought 
to study and value it — search into its hidden depths, 
turn it over in every direction, and utilize it in our 
own lives. The amount of food we eat is nothing 
— it is what we digest. Thus it is with the soul : it 
matters not how much we know, but the way we use 
OUT knowledge. The absorbing power of the soul is 
wonderful. 

Jesus had studied and thought deeply, or he 
never could have thrown so much meaning into 
one little sentence — "Wist ye not that I must be 
about my Father's business?" He had studied 
nature, as exhibited to him in the flaming stars, 
the green fields, and blooming flowers. He had 
wondered — O how he had wondered ! And then 
too his intercourse with the Father was one un- 
broken communion — one loving nature animating 
two forms — God and the child Jesus, the only-be- 
gotten of the Father — God acting through two be- 
ings. The knowledge of what his work was seems 
to have grown on him gradually. Even his mira- 
cles in manhood seem to have been a charm, the 
smallest link glittering and blushing in the water- 
pots at the Cana wedding, and the last astounding 
the multitude at his own ascension, when a cloud 



208 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

hid him from their sight. Blessed Jesus! he is 
there yet, just beyond the cloud. 

Boys, when tempted to idle away your time, read 
tj'ifling books, or engage in questionable amuse- 
ments, say to the world, " Wist ye not that I must 
be about my Father's business?" It will take 
every moment of your time, every atom of your 
threefold existence — body, mind, and spirit — all 
the assistance you can get from prayer, good b)ooks, 
the influence of friends, faith, and meditation, and 
then you will barely accomplish your work — noth- 
ing over. Your Father's business is your salva- 
tion, and your faith must balance his power. The 
smallest atom will unsettle the beam — yea, the 
shadow of an infant's tear would turn the scales. 
Our faith must be omnipotent, as God alone can 
make it, if we will let him. Jesus may be spend- 
ing eternity in incarnating and redeeming other 
fallen worlds, but to us he ever liveth to make in- 
tercession for us. Your souls' salvation is a prob- 
lem you alone can solve. O my dear boys, you 
grown ones for whom I have oSered up so many 
prayers, whom I have tried so hard to bring to Je- 
sus, do your life-work well ! Make the world better. 
Be faithful unto death, and God will give you a 
crown of life. 

Mary was surprised at this singular reply, and 
pondered all these things in her heart. How I 



THE BOY JESUS. 209 

wish we had a history of his childish sayings! 
Even his mj st commonplace utterances to us would 
be as the most soothing music. At this time he 
returned with his mother, and was subject to her, 
beautifully illustrating the fifth commandment, un- 
til his baptism. 

All prophecy pointed to Jesus — all types sym- 
bolized him. Every glittering scintillation from 
the polished serpent of brass, as Moses lifted it up 
in the wilderness for the healing of the people, 
speaks with an eloquence not to be mistaken — Je- 
sus lifted up for the sin of the world. Every street 
and alley of the cities of refuge lead to Jesus, the 
sinner's only safety when the scarlet dye of murder 
is on the hands, and the avenger is after hira. 
Listen! Moses smites the dead rock, and refresh- 
ing streams gush forth. How plainly they say, 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in tliee ! 

The scape-goat, with Israel's sins on his head, runs 
into the wilderness, to return no more; so Jesus 
takes away our sins forever. Precious sin-extract- 
or ! Noah's ark tells of the day when we shall need 
Jesus, our fire-proof ark, to carry us safely over 
the fiery billows of a melting world. Abraham's 
sacrifice, so sad and beautiful, is a perfect picture 
of the whole scheme of man's redemption — Abra- 
ham representing" stern, inflexible Justice, as he 
14 



210 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

stands ready to bury his knife in Isaac's heart. 
Sinner, look at him, as he lies there, quivering in 
mortal agony, and behold thy sad fate. The ram, 
hid in a thicket, reminds us of Jesus, who receives 
the blow, and man (Isaac) goes free. 

"Jesus, the Word in person, is the soul of the 
written word of God. The name of Jesus burns on 
every page of the Bible — it burns in every smok- 
ing sacrifice. Take calcium out of lime, carbon 
out of diamond, invention out of fiction, truth out 
of history, mind out of metaphysics, cause and 
eflfect out of philosophy, and what is left? Take 
Jesus out of the Bible, and we have only a few mean- 
ingless fables." Take Jesus out, and the w^hole 
thing is a corpse — beautiful, it is true, but still a 
corpse — that all the resurrection-power in the uni- 
verse cannot reanimate."^ The Old Testament was 
written to prepare the minds and hearts of the peo- 
ple to receive the Lord of glory — a kind of John 
the Baptist in the world's wilderness, preparing the 
way for the King of kings. He came; then his- 
tory begins where prophecy ends, all forming a 
perfect chain, every shining link complete, prov- 
ing, beyond all doubt, that Jesus, the babe in the 
manger, the circumcised Jewish baby, the boy of the 

■^ Since this was written, I have read "Credo," who uses 
the same ideas — almost the same words — but to express 
the spirit. 



THE BOY JESUS. 211 

temple, the son of Mary, is God the Son, our Re- 
deemer — that the babe born 1879 years ago is none 
other than the Messiah, 

Infidelity, ignorance, indifierence, talent, wealth, 
vice, "the world, the flesh, and the devil," have all 
conspired to stop the progress of this glorious gospel, 
and it still goes on. It has been read, preached, 
talked, and lived, and now the musically-inspired 
Sankey is singing the glad tidings right into the 
hearts of the people. The Bible, with its three 
hundred and forty-four contradictions, is in our 
homes and our hearts, and millions live holy lives, 
and die triumphant deaths, by its sacred teachings. 
We, who have tried the promises, and know them 
to be true, recommend to you a Christian life; foi 
we know that "God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
eth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." 



THE DAUGHTER OE JAIUDS. 



^'According to your faith be it unto you." 

JESUS had been in the ministry about a year, 
passing along through the world blessing all 
by whom he was surrounded, healing the sick, re- 
storing sight to the blind, stilling the tempest, and 
casting out devils. The dumb swig his praises, the 
lame leaped for joy, the deaf heard the glad news. 
Truly, "the foot-prints of Jesus made the pathway 
glow.'^ Health and happiness followed him every- 
where. Once, as he was attended by an admiring 
multitude, a man by the name of Jairus, a ruler of 
the synagogue, came and fell at his feet, saying- 
My little daughter lieth at the point of death ; 
come and lay thy hands upon her, that she may 
be healed, and she shall live. Jesus started home 
with him immediately, followed by the crowd. 

Going a short distance, he was met by a woman, 
who had been diseased many years, and she said, 
within herself, If I may but touch the hem of his 
garment, I shall be healed of my plague. 

Let us, before going any farther, stop and con- 
sider these two degrees of faith. Every human 

(212) 



THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 213 

soul has a sufficiency of the article for its salva- 
tion, provided the belief be an active, living prin- 
ciple, and takes hold of the right thing, at the 
right time, and in the right way. In some souls 
faith is strong enough to remove mountains — in 
others it is quite weak ; but all possess a capacity 
for increasing it, from small to very great propor- 
tions. The woman's faith simply touched the Sav- 
iour's garment. A word spoken at a distance, as 
in the case of the Syrophenician mother, would 
have had no efiect on her — nothing less than a 
positive touch 0/ the garment However, it was not 
necessary for her to touch his person. One of the 
disciples, after the resurrection, demanded a touch 
from the real human hand of our Saviour. 

When the woman came and touched him, in that 
dense throng of human beings, Jesus, nearly crushed 
to death, feeling that healing virtue had gone out 
of him, turned and asked, "Who touched me?" 
Confession must he made. He had healed the w^om- 
an almost, hut she must confess the cure. There are 
Christians ivho do not helieve in confessing openly 
ivhat Jesus has done for them. " With the heart man 
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation." In this case 
Christ felt only that one touch, the touch of faith. 
He knew he was almost crushed by the multitude, 
but noticed none but this poor woman. So it is 



214 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

witli a real heart-prayer : it will always find its way 
to the ears of God. The disciples were surprised 
at the question, but the woman came forward and 
acknowledged what she had done. Jesus then 
spoke a few words of tenderness, and sent her 
away, to bear the glad tidings to other diseased 
people. 

My heart invariably beats with a happier, rapid- 
ity, and my eyes fill with joyful tears, when T think 
of Jesus, in his every-day intercourse with women, 
so tender, so respectful, so kind, to the whole sex — 
not only to the pure and virtuous Marys, but even 
the wicked woman of Samaria was respected by 
him, and treated in the gentlest manner. A woman 
who does not love Jesus is unworthy of the name. 
Those men who approach nearest this divine stand- 
ard in their characters are, and ought to be, most 
beloved by true women. It is a melancholy fact 
that the demand for such men far exceeds the sup- 
ply. But this is a digression. 

The miracle of healing the woman, and the sub- 
sequent conversation with her, consumed time more 
valuable than gold to the anxious Jairus. No doubt 
he asked himself the question. Why does Jesus de- 
lay so long? He knows that my child is dying; 
why keep me in suspense? Healing the woman is 
all very well, but she might have waited. Hers was 
not a case of life and death — she might have waited 



THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 215 

a day or two longer. My little daughter will surely 
die if not restored very soon. Patience, Jairus! 
It is the God who gave your child life for whom 
you are waiting. 

The father's faith was strengthened by seeing the 
woman healed ; but, alas ! w^hile they were forcing 
their way through the crowd, certain came and 
said to the ruler, "Thy daughter is dead; why 
troublest thou the Master any farther?" Jesus, 
hearing the remark, turned his compassionate face 
on the father, and, in tender accents, said, "Be not 
afraid, only believe." Thus encouraged, Jairus's 
sinking faith rallied. How quickly a few kind 
words, even from those we love here, revive and 
make us happy and strong to do or dare for Jesus ! 
and how very scarce they often are when most 
needed! How easy to say kind things, and how 
sweet the memory afterward! When we know 
that the angels smile when w^e are good, and weep 
when we are bad, it does seem that we should al- 
ways be trying to make more "joy in heaven." 

Arriving at the house, they w^ent in, and, sure 
enough, there lay the little girl, her eyes closed in 
death, her hands clasped over her breast, never 
more to suffer here, while the hired women were 
weeping and wailing greatly. Jesus said to them, 
"Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is 
not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to 



216 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

scorn." Silly people ahvays ridicule what they are 
incapable of comprehending. Sending those foolish 
women away, ajid leaving no one but Peter, James, 
and John, the legal number of witnesses, he closed 
the door gently, went to the corpse, and, taking 
her hand — so cold in death — he said, in the voice 
of a loving man, but with the power of a God, 
"Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Dam- 
sel (I say unto thee), arise." No looking to God 
the Father this time — no prayer, no apparent gath- 
ering up of his infinite attributes — nothing but his 
own omnipotence. "And straightway the damsel 
arose, and walked ; for she was of the age of twelve 
years." The unconscious corpse felt in that man, 
walking about amidst sin and suffering, the pres- 
ence of its God. The soul had already crossed the 
dark river, the pearly gates had already swung 
back on their emerald hinges, and the disembodied 
spirit was even then walking the golden streets, 
amid "the great cloud of witnesses," impelled by 
an unseen, irresistible power, striving to find its 
way to the great white throne, to kneel in humble 
adoration before Him who had sent His beloved 
Son into the w^orld to die for her. Young as she 
was, she had looked forward, through the flowing 
blood of innocent animals, to the true blood that 
was to flow for her. That gentle spirit, so near the 
throne, heard and recognized the voice of the Son, 



THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 217 

and, quicker than the lightning's flash, again took 
up its abode in the dust now about to molder in 
the tomb. 

All were astonished. The disciples had seen the 
other miracles — all manner of diseases healed, the 
tempest stilled, and devils cast out — but this was 
something new. Never had they, in their wildest 
imaginations, dreamed that their Master had so 
much power. 

AVhen Jesus had raised the little girl, he turned 
quietly to her mother, and commanded her to give 
her something to eat ; then, without waiting to re- 
ceive the grateful thanks of the household, he told 
them not to mention it, and left the house. 

The most noticeable feature in this miracle is 
the faith of the father — indeed, this is the diamond 
pivot around which the whole beautiful transactior 
revolves. At first, Jesus could not hav€ raised » 
dead child, as we read that one time he could do 
no mighty works in Capernaum, because of their 
unbelief. But his faith grew rapidly, as ours will 
if we exercise the little we have. The mental and 
spiritual faculties grow as rapidly and surely as 
the bodily, if we exercise them properly. Hard 
and constant manual labor makes the hands hard, 
rough, and large. Studious habits cause the brain 
to grow and expand. So with the heart : open it 
to the kind and genial influences of the Holy Spirits 



218 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

and it too will expand. Where we now love one, 
such is the elasticity of the heart, that by and by 
we shall be able to take in all the world. Yf e 
must grow mentally and morally as well as physi- 
cally. After a certain period in our lives, w^e are 
grown in body, but I have never known a finite 
creature grown mentally or spiritually. The soul 
is a scintillation of God himself, a sparkle, of the 
divine essence, a ray from the Sun of righteous- 
ness — therefore nothing but heaven can satisfy it. 

The daughter of Jairus is never heard from 
again I often wonder what became of her. Did 
she grow up to be a good and useful woman, die, 
and go to live with the dear, unforgotten stranger, 
who had done so much for- her? 

We think it a wonderful thing for Jesus to raise 
the dead, and w^e call it a miracle — so it is; but 
is not every conversion from sin and darkness to 
righteousness and light a miracle? Surely it is 
beyond the power of nature to accomplish it. All 
who are out of Christ are as dead in sin as was the 
daughter of Jairus, and it requires the steadily-in- 
creasing faith of the ruler to grasp and apply the 
blood of Jesus to the heart. The Holy Spirit alone 
can call back the sin-dead soul to its original purity 
and holiness. 



THE LUNATIC CHILD HEALED. 



"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief/' Mark 
ix. 24. 

THREE representative men — Moses symboliz- 
ing the Mosaic, Elijah the prophetic, and Je- 
sus the Christian, dispensation — met on the top of 
Mount Hermon to talk of the decease which Jesus 
should accomplish at Jerusalem. Elijah and Jesus 
knew nothing of the pangs of death. Peter, James, 
and John, met this delegation from the spirit-land, 
recognized them, and understood their conversa- 
tion. This is the only time in the world's history 
that the Church militant and the Church triumph- 
ant ever met face to face, to converse familiarly on 
a subject of momentous interest to both. These 
two halves of one beautiful whole are close to- 
gether; only the little line we fear so much lies 
between — the river of death. 

The conversation between them became so ab- 
sorbing and spiritual that they knew not that little 
rays of heavenly glory were falling rapidly around 
them like snow-flakes, making their faces and gar- 
ments so dazzlingly beautiful that the Church mil 

(219) 



220 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

itant, as embodied in the persons of Peter, James, 
and John, fell to its face in the sublime presence 
of the Church triumphant. What a solemn, soul- 
stirring conference was this upon the mountain! 
It seemed almost an involuntary bursting out of 
the divine nature through the human body of 
Christ. This and one more time are the only ones 
in which our Saviour ever made any display while 
on earth. The exclamation came from the depths 
of grateful hearts, "It is good for us to be here; 
and let us make three tabernacles — one for thee, 
and one for Moses, and one for Elias." 

When the vision was past, there remained the 
foundation-stone — the connecting-link between the 
two — Jesus only. Yes, Moses and Elias may for- 
sake us, the glory of the world melt into common 
air, but with Jesus only all will be well. Yes, 
Jesus only is better than a universe without him. 
Jesus only — faint, care-worn, and weary, but the 
same " man of sorrows." 

As they came down from the mountain-top, the 
heavenly glory still lingering here and there in the 
soft curls of his hair — perhaps some of the bright- 
ness in his dark, love -lit eyes — they saw a vast 
multitude awaiting them in the valley below. The 
first who spoke was a sorely-afflicted father, who 
fell at Jesus's feet, and besought him to heal his 
little son, his only child. Ah! who knows what 



THE LUNATIC CHILD HEALED. 221 

hopes and fears cluster around an only child ? Who 
can sound the depths of tenderness that are con- 
centrated on one little head? Jesus fixed his lov- 
ing eyes on the suppliant at his feet. Hear the 
father's mournful story: My boy is possessed of a 
deaf and dumb devil. Sometimes it throws him 
into the water, sometimes into the fire. He often 
falls down in a fit, wallowing, tearing his hair, 
foaming. Do, Jesus, if thou canst, have mercy on 
us, and help us ! Christians sometimes pray pre- 
cisely as this poor father did — not in words, but in 
deed — calling loudly on God to forgive sins that 
were blotted out from the book of his remembrance 
long ago, showing by this act that they doubt either 
God's power or his willingness. 

Jesus asked the man how long his son had been 
so afflicted. He replied. Ever since he was a child. 
I carried him to thy disciples, but they could do 
nothing for him. Jesus, turning, rebuked them 
for their want of faith, and commanded the man 
to bring the child to him. Perhaps the mother, or 
some faithful friend, had charge of him, as the 
father went alone to meet Jesus. Now, said he, 
"All things are possible to him that believeth." 
Faith and unbelief struggling together in the fa- 
ther's heart, he cried out, ''Lord, I believe; help 
thou mine unbelief.^' 

Some have faith^ but not quite enough. Ah I 



222 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

we are all like him, to a greater or less extent. 
With a five -dollar bill in our pocket, we have 
faith to believe we shall get our dinner to-morrow ; 
but sometimes we are called upon to believe that 
our ''bread and water will be sure'* when we see 
not an inch before us in the misty future. The 
knowledge of our unbelief increases our faith, and 
proves it. 

As the father led the little boy, so fearfully 
afflicted, to Jesus, the devil within felt and ac- 
knowledged his master — threw the child down, as 
if he wished to make a display of his power. There 
he lay, rolling in the dirt, tearing his clothes, bit- 
ing his tongue, foaming at the mouth, every nerve 
seeming tied in a thousand knots, while his father 
knelt in agony above him. The spasm spent its 
force ; he was raised up and supported by his fa- 
ther, walked on a few steps more, and was met by 
Jesus, who commanded the devil to come out, and 
never enter his soul again. With one fearful con- 
vulsion, the enraged spirit threw him down, leav- 
ing him perfectly lifeless. how Satan raged, yet 
trembled, at the presence of Jesus! The people 
said, "He is dead." Jesus took the little, emaci- 
ated hand, that had never injured a living creat- 
ure, in his great warm one — so full of life, love, 
and power — and instantly the congealing blood be- 
gan to flow through his veins. The cheeks flushed, 



THE LUNATIC CHILD HEALED. 223 

he gently opened his great brown eyes, now aglow 
with intelligence, gazed on Jesus, smiled sweetly, 
and arose. 

At this interesting moment history stops short, 
leaving the father's and child's joy to our imagina- 
tion. When the disciples were alone with Jesus, 
they inquired why they could not cast out this de- 
mon. He said, "This kind goeth not out but by 
prayer and fasting." 

This miracle is very minutely described by three 
of the inspired biographers. Coming immediately 
after the transfiguration, it is peculiarly striking. 
Transfiguration glories seen, and demoniac shrieks 
heard, in the same hour, by the three disciples! 
What an experience ! With such sights and sounds 
before them, no wonder the disciples built up such 
grand characters — such stately temples forthe dec- 
oration of the eternal city. Raphael painted a 
magnificent picture of his conception of this scene 
— one on which his fame as an artist chiefly rests. 
His picture represents the Church triumphant glo- 
rified, the Church militant falling in ecstasy before 
it, while a veil of dazzling light and beauty encir- 
cles the whole. Near is the valley in which lights 
and shadows are playing hide-and-seek, while the 
multitude is waiting patiently below. The chief 
characters are the little bov throwino- his arms 
wildly about, while a woman on each side, supposed 



224 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

to be Ids aunt and mother, are trying to lead him 
to Jesus. His father walks on to meet Jesus. He 
has tried the disciples — they failed ; now, as a last 
resort, he comes to Jesus. When we feel our help- 
lessness, we always go to God. If Jesus fails, all 
is over. The faint, glimmering dawn of hope in 
the father's face is beautiful. 

In the healing of this child, Jesus teaches us 
this important lesson : This is a working world, a 
place of discipline, a shop in which we must man- 
ufacture a character fit to associate wdth angels 
eternally. Sin, suffering, and ignorance, abound 
at our doors, in our homes. It is our business to 
check, as far as we can, the tide of sin — to roll 
back the dark waves of suffering. The tears of 
orphanage and widowhood are to be dried, poverty 
fed and clothed, ignorance educated. This wilder- 
ness must blossom as the rose, and we children of 
God are the gardeners. We must be workers in 
his vineyard. Like Peter, w^e would stay always 
with the glorified Lord on the mountain -top of 
bliss ; but while we are there, basking in the trans- 
figu ration of our God, his hungry multitude is in 
the valley below. Jesus says, by his conduct here, 
Church of my heart, come down from your mount- 
ain-top of happiness. Comfort my afflicted. I 
left my Father's side to bring you salvation. Cheer 
my weary ones ; assist my w^eak to bear their heavy 



THE LUNATIC CHILD HEALED. 



225 



burdens. You shall have a glimpse of heaven 
now and then — enjoy it, inclose it and crystallize 
it in your hearts forever — but you shall not ah^ ays 
be on the mount of joy. Come and send light into 
the homes of the benighted. Be faithful to me 
and mine, and my 2^e(^<^^ — '^'^ot joy — in your hearts 
shall flow as a river. The sunshine of my presence 
shall make a constant transfiguration in your souls. 
Every pulsation of joy you send through a sorrow- 
ing soul here shall go back in blessings multiplied 
on your own lives. 
15 



A CO -WORKER WITHJESUS. 



'*Tj'ust in the Lord, and do good, and verily tliou shall 
be fed/' 

IT was late in the evening ; the sun was setting 
behind the Judean hills, casting a flood of mel- 
low radiance over the mountains of the Holy Land. 
Jesus had been preaching the blessed gospel of 
peace in the wilderness, near Jordan. The loving 
disciples were, as ever, standing by, to catch every 
word that fell from his dear lips. A mighty mul- 
titude stood listening, wondering, trembling. As 
the evening passed away, the people became faint 
and hungry. Jesus too was fatigued, for, as man, 
he had his hours of suflering and weariness. The 
disciples asked him to dismiss the multitude, that 
they might go into the villages and buy bread. 
There spoke frail human nature. Jesus asked, 
Philip, how many loaves have ye? "There is a 
lad here wdiich hath five barley loaves and two 
small fishes; but what are they among so many?" 
This child was perhaps coming from some of the 
villages, where he had been marketing for liis 
mother, and, boy like, stopped to see the crowd, 

(226) 



A CO-WORKER WITH JESUS. 227 

and hear what was going on. The disciples, on 
inquiring among the people, found that there was 
no more food ; so, with the lad's consent, they car- 
ried the basket to Jesus. "Now, there was much 
grass in the place." Make the people sit down, in 
companies of fifties and hundreds. The obedient 
disciples, with faith in his power, seat the people 
on the ground, and return to their Master, helpless 
themselves, but willing and ready to carry out his 
orders. We must be prepared for blessings before 
they arc sent. 

This picture is the most distmct in my mind of 
all Bible-story. I can shut my eyes, and see the 
green grass. I can hear the murmuring voices of 
the people, and can see the faces of the disciples — 
Judas, so dark and treacherous, as he not very gen- 
tly assists in seating them; Peter's hasty, nervous 
way ; John's loving smiles and gentle words, as he 
finds a soft, cool place for the little children and 
their mothers. Then, all seated, the scene changes. 
Jesus stands, bread in hand, with his handsome 
face still unmarred by our sins, and his dark eyes 
look over the crowd, while the little boy stands 
by, watching intently every movement. Now, said 
he, "Give ye them to eat." What a command! 
Five thousand hungry men, besides women and 
children, to be fed on " five loaves and two small 
fishes ! " The disciples looked at each other in as- 



228 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

tonishment at the command. There is a great deal 
of human instrumentality in this miracle. God 
honors his children by permitting them to be co- 
workers with him. " Ye are the salt of the earth/^ 
to save the great mass of corrupt humanity. "Ye 
are the light of the world," that is to illuminate 
the darkness of heathenism and superstition. True, 
you are a reflected light. Jesus says, "I will shine 
through you.'' 

After the people were seated, Jesus took the 
bread and fishes, the little boy still watching; and 
now follows one of the most beautiful miracles of 
the Bible. With the bread in his hands, he looked 
up to heaven, blessed, and began to break it. Beau- 
tiful example ! Is there a Christian in all this gos- 
pel-land who dares sit down to his well-filled board, 
and eat his meals sent him from above, without 
thanking his Father for them ? Christian, born in 
a land of Bibles, how dare you put one morsel of 
food in your unhallowed mouth without thanking 
God for it? Know you not that you have bread 
only for to-day? How do you know that the 
supply will not be cut ofi*? How do you know 
that your example will not lock the pearly gates, 
throughout all eternity, against the sons and daugh- 
ters God has lent you to train for himf 

Jesus, in this little thing, is still our great Ex- 
emplar. Boys, have you ever fed little pigs? Did 



A CO-WORKER WITH JESUS. 229 

you notice, while the corn was rattling over their 
heads, and falling to the ground, they kept on eat- 
ing, and never looked up at the hand that sent it ? 
So Christians often receive blessings without a sir - 
gle upward glance of thankfulness. When the 
corn ceases to come, then the little pig looks up, 
and grunts out, "Give me some more,'' in his own 
swinish dialect. They were obeying the laws of 
their nature, and fulfilling their mission on earth; 
they had no souls to praise God. When I see peo- 
ple eat without asking a blessing, I always think 
of the pigs I used sometimes to feed in my child- 
hood. 

Then Jesus blessed the bread and fishes, and be- 
gan to break, gave to his disciples, and they to the 
hungry multitude. Had an ordinary man been 
breaking it, the bread would soon have been ex- 
hausted. The veiled God of the universe was their 
provider. The astonished disciples kept handing 
it around ; forward and backward they went, be- 
tween the Bread of Life, with the bread that per- 
ishes, for the hungry multitude. Instead of dimin- 
ishing in size, at the touch of that creative hand 
the loaves and fishes increased more and more. 
But see the little boy, as he stands by Jesus in 
open-mouthed wonder, gazing at him a little while, 
then glancing stealthily at the basket. This was 
a great event in his young life. I would like to 



230 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

have followed him home, with his basketful of 
scraps, as he ran in, telling his mother, in a bois- 
terous way, " O mother ! I was comin' home from 
market, and saw a big crowd of people settin' on 
the grass, by the sea-shore, and a man was preach- 
in' to 'em; and after 'while another man came 
along, an' asked me if I had any thing to eat in 
my basket. I said. Yes, and give it to him; only 
had five loaves and two fishes left. So he took it 
to the man who was preachin', and I went and 
stood by him, for fear he would not give it back to 
me ; and, while I stood there, he took the bread 
and commenced breakin' an' handin' it to the 
crowd. Upon my word, the loaves and fishes 
growed so that there were five thousand men, be- 
sides women and children, fed on 'em, and they 
picked up twelve hasheifuls of crumbs, fish-heads, 
and bones. Here is a whole pile that was left. 
Mother, what do you think of it? Let's go hear 
him next time he comes near here. I believe he 
is the Messiah we are all expectin'. I tell you 
I could see the fishes growin' in his hands; I 
would n't believe it if my own eyes had n't seen it. 
He give me three or four great, big pieces of fish, 
and ever so much bread, already cooked too. I 
tell you, mother, he is the Messiah we are expect- 
in'. Won't you go and see him, mother? All the 
boys go, and lots of women — they carry their ba- 



A CO-WORKER WITH JESUS. 231 

bies, and stay all day. He does all kinds of strange 
things — makes sick people well, and one boy told 
me he had brought to life a little dead girl. You 
know Jairus, mother, ruler of the synagogue — his 
daughter died. Well, she is up, and well now ; I 
think I saw her in the crowd to-day.'' 

More than likely the boy's enthusiasm infected 
the mother, and she too heard the wonderful man 
who raised a dead child. I dare not limit the 
power of God as manifested in Jesus, the coequal, 
coeternal Son. He could have performed this beau- 
tiful miracle without disciples, loaf, fish, basket, or 
astonished little boy; but he did not do it The 
whole beautiful fabric rests on the basket contain- 
ing five barley loaves and two small fishes; and 
this basket was carried by a poor little boy. With- 
out this the miracle might have been, but the chief 
beauty — a child co-worker with Jesus — would have 
been lost. The willingness of all parties is one of 
the chief beauties. The multitude was hungry, 
therefore willing to eat ; the disciples were obedient, 
and the loan of the basket was gladly made, Jesus is 
always ready to send a blessing, but we are not al- 
ways ready to receive it. Jesus coidd have called 
manna from heaven; he coitld have spoken the 
word, and every fish in that little sea would have 
recognized the voice of God, and have come to the 
shore. Ah ! but they would not have been cooked. 



232 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

says a little boy. My son, do n't try to limit Om- 
nipotence. His simple will, without a word, would 
have set that sea to boiling, and cooked every fish 
iu it. It is as easy for God to take a single loaf, 
and feed us all our lives on it, as it is to perform 
the slow, every-day miracle of giving the farmer 
the health, will, and brains, to plant corn, hoe, 
plow, then gather it. Yea, Jesus is to-day feeding 
millions of spiritual bodies on one loaf — the bread 
of eternal life. 

After every hungry child in that vast congrega- 
tion was fed, Jesus gave the economical command, 
" Gather up the fragments that remain, that noth- 
ing be lost." While doing so, to their surprise, 
the little boy's basket w^ould not hold them; so 
they found eleven more baskets, and filled them. I 
am sure I have no idea where they came from. 
The women may have brought food in them for 
their little ones — more likely the creating word of 
Jesus manufactured them for the occasion. 

The evening having passed away, and night com- 
ing on, they now returned to their homes, each one 
full of the wonderful things he had seen, heard, 
and tasted. Jesus returned the basket to the little 
boy, full of fragments, thanked him, spoke a few 
words of gentleness, and smiled on him so brightly 
that the sunlight went down in his heart like a liv- 
ing seed of kindness, that probably sprang up into 



A CO-WORKER WITH JESUS. 233 

a great tree of usefulness iu after-life. The touch, 
a smile, a word, a passing thought, in the raind of 
Jesus, seems to have sanctified those on whom it 
rested, when they had the heart to appreciate it. 
I don't like to hear a preacher say that Jesus never 
smiled. I believe his laugh in childhood and early 
manhood rang out as gleefully as a little child's on 
his return from a picnic. How can a baby be a 
baby without the laugh when "the angels play with 
him ? " It was only when he began his great work 
as Mediator between God and man that the bright 
smile left his beautiful countenance. He was a 
man precisely like others, except the sin. 

This miracle was performed in the day, before 
thousands of witnesses. It was addressed to a sense 
that is seldom deceived. It is hard to fill a hungry 
man's stomach with poetry, sunbeams, rose-leaves, 
or music. "And they did eat, and were all filled." 
They could not have been deceived. 

Little boys, God will still take your market-bas- 
kets, and fill perishing thousands, if you will let 
him. This little boy was idlling for Jesus to have 
his basket. Bring your little fishes of love, trust, 
and hope, to him — all your loaves of kindness — 
and ask him to touch them, and see how fast they 
will grow ; then watch the hungry multitude feed 
on them. Show a submissive spirit, and you may, 
by some little kindness, start a train of thought 



2S4 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

that will go on widening and deepening until thou- 
sands may be fed from your little basket of love. 

This story is written for the express purpose of 
bringing forward the little boy — one of the chil- 
dren of the Bible — that other little boys may 
gather lessons of usefulness for their own lives, that 
they too may become willing co-workers with Jesus 
in accomplishing good. I cannot do justice to, this 
story, because Jesus, with his transfiguration glory, 
is the most prominent character, and he casts such 
brightness around every thing that I lose myself 
and the little boy in the cloud. In another story 
I almost forget the little dead daughter of Jairus 
in my love for Jesus. 

This little boy passes off the pages of sacred his- 
tory as quietly and with as little ceremony as he 
enters it. No one ever gave him (Jesus' s little as- 
sistant) a passing thought. John Wesley was once 
a little boy, and lived and died for God, and to- 
day he has a living monument to his memory — an 
immortal one, that will be bright and fair when 
time has grown gray — yea, till time has died, and 
been buried in the coffin of eternity. A living, 
working, hajjpy Church, we are feeding to-day on 
the same loaf he fed on — Jesus Christ, the bread 
of eternal life. 

This is the only miracle mentioned by all four 
evangelists. , 



AN OBJECT-LESSON. 



"Feed my lambs." 

JESUS lived several years in Capernaum, there- 
fore it is often called his own city. At one 
time he could do no mighty works there, because 
of their unbelief. This city has long been in ruins, 
the very site forgotten, verifying the prophecy, 
"And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto 
heaven, shalt be brought down to hell." 

The day after the transfiguration, Jesus and some 
of his disciples were in Peter's house, in Caperna- 
um. He was much fatigued, having spent the pre- 
vious night on the mountain -top in prayer and 
fasting, and the day in preaching and performing 
miracles. There was quite a little company of 
men, women, and children, in the house. During 
the afternoon the other disciples came in, and wero 
greeted by Jesus with the question, " What was it 
that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?"^ 
"But they held their peace." A few moments 
passed in eloquent silence — God was speaking to 
each soul. Then said one of them, "Who is the 
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" This ques- 

(235) 



236 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

tion had been discussed many times before. James 
and John went so far as to get their mother, Sa- 
lome, to ask Jesus to give them the first position — 
the one on the right, and the other on the left hand 
— in his kingdom. Jesus had tried to impress on 
their minds that his was a spiritual kingdom — that 
purity, humility, and holiness, alone constituted 
greatness. In order to be close to God, we must 
be like him in character. Judas, at the table of 
our Lord, dipping with him in the dish, was farther 
removed from that Fountain of infinite purity than 
the untaught savage bounding over the wild forests 
of America, who never heard of Jesus. The great 
gulf betiveen Dives and Lazarus is one of character. 
Thus far Jesus had failed in his efforts to teach 
these ambitious fishermen the great lesson of life. 
Seeing their stupidity, he makes one more attempt. 
He sat down, and called the twelve, as all needed 
the lesson — the sweet-spirited John worse, perhaps, 
than the covetous, unprincipled Judas. With his 
eyes steadily fixed on them, he said, "If any man 
desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and 
servant of all." "And Jesus called a little child 
unto him, and set him in the midst of them." 
Taking the little one in his arms, he settles forever 
the question of greatness. Hear, ye ambitious fish- 
ermen of Galilee! Hear, ye covetous Judases, 
doubting Thomases, cowardly Peters! Hear, ye 



AN OBJECT-LESSON. 237 

cardinals, bishops, popes, and presiding elders, and 
lay aside your questionings forever! "Verily I 
say unto you. Except ye be converted, and become 
as little children, ye shall not enter into the king- 
dom of heaven. Whosoever therefore humbleth 
himself as this little child, the same is greatest in 
the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive 
one such little child in my name receiveth me. But 
whoso shall offend one of these little ones which 
believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- 
stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
drowned in the depth of the sea.'' " Take heed that 
ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say 
unto you, That in heaven their angels do always 
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." 
"Even so it is not the will of your Father which i? 
in heaven, that one of these little ones should per- 
ish." 

The disciples felt that the important question 
was settled, and turned to other subjects. What a 
beautiful object-lesson this is! AYIiat a pretty lit- 
tle text! Where could he have found a better 
one? one more cheerful, suggestive, and altogether 
charming? See the little one, as he sits on Jesus's 
knees, his great brown eyes, with the wondering, 
far-away look of innocency, watching the man who 
first opened his eyes in a manger. How tenderly 
the God-man puts his arms around him ! See the 



238 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

Utile dimpled fingers, as they play, unreproved, 
with the long, silky beard of the Man of Sorrows. 
No sacrilege in the touch of those baby fingers. 
Look at the child's eves, then at those of Jesus. 
Do you observe the wonderful resemblance? His 
eyes may have been black, and the child's blue; 
but the likeness between these two extremes of so- 
ciety is wonderful — the innocence, the sinlessness, 
constituted the likeness. This idea is plain enough 
in my own mind, but obscurely brought out here. 
A child's innocence is negative — the innocence of 
Jesus is a positive thing. The child knew nothing 
of sin — Jesus knew all about it. It was around 
him, beneath, above — everywhere but in him. 
This was an innocence that had conquered sin. A 
child's mind is a sheet of pure, unwritten paper — 
it may be common foolscap, note, legal-cap, fine or 
superfine, but is valuable, or otherwise, according 
to the history written on it. The mind of Jesus 
was a ream of the purest character, beautifully il- 
lustrated with grand truths — no blots or erasures 
— a positive, glorious history. 

The little child remained in the arms of his 
friend, the admiration of the congregation, while 
his mother, proud of the distinction conferred on 
her little son, stood by, .with smiles and tears of 
joy striving for the mastery on her face. She was 
afraid baby would cry. Away with your fears. 



AN OBJECT-LESSON. 239 

mother — no child had ever such a nurse. The 
mission of Jesus is to drive away fears, and to 
bring out joy from the troubled hearts of earth's 
weary ones. Jesus sat there, every few minutes 
looking lovingly into his eyes, as if to gather in- 
spiration, while he preached to the disciples and 
women standing near. Precious sermon ! not long, 
no firstlies, secondlies, no points and-in-con elusions, 
no soul-distracting gestures to enforce his meaning. 
In his own silvery accents he said, "Take heed 
that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for I 
say unto you, That in heaven their angels do al- 
ways behold the face of my Father which is in 
heaven." " Even so it is not the will of your Fa- 
ther which is in heaven, that one of these little 
ones should perish." Was there ever such a text, 
such a sermon, or such a preacher? The congre- 
gation too was a strange one. Great, rough-beard- 
ed men, quietly receiving a rebuke for desiring 
greatness before it was deserved; ignorant, loving 
women, with their little ones crowing in their arms ; 
wee toddlers, half-grown, awkward boys, and blush- 
ing girls in their teens — all striving to get a place 
near Jesus. How natural it was for children to 
love this great Saviour ! While learned Pharisees, 
lawyers, and doctors, scoffed and derided, little 
children were drawn to him by an irresistible im- 
pulse, Stern disciples and order -loving mothers 



240 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

were alike powerless to keep them away. And Je- 
sus, with his heart open, to take in all the world, 
had a w^ord of tenderness, a look of love, and a 
blessed benediction, for them. 

I have often thought of this child, and have 
^ried to imagine the scene so dimly portrayed in 
this simple story. What was the influence of this 
hour on his heart? Did the virtue from Jesus 
cling to him in after-life? Yea, it did. Nothing 
but the living, eternal virtue, springing from the 
heart of Jesus, enwrapping the soul of this fair in- 
fant, could have made him, when infancy and boy- 
hood had passed away, the great Ignatius, one of 
the fathers of the earlv Church of Christ, one of its 
most beautiful and substantial pillars. In the ag- 
onies of the most horrible death — torn by wdld 
beasts, for the amusement of the Emperor Trajan 
and his multitudes of subjects — the virtue still 
clung to him, and even now sweetens and sanctifies 
his memory. Blessed child ! you comforted for a 
few brief moments the lonely heart of the Son of 
God. Your golden curls, nestling against his heart, 
hid from his omniscient eye the horrors of Geth- 
semane. Your baby-language and winsome w^ays 
drow^ned the voice of insult on Calvary. One lit- 
tle child helped Jesus perform a miracle by lending 
him a basket of loaves and fishes — you did a nobler 
work, by cheering his sad heart, and aflfording him 



AN OBJECT-LESSON. 243 

a lively text from wliicli to preach the grandest 
sermon of his earthly ministry. What a luxury 
to soothe and comfort Jesus in his lonely pilgrim^ 
age! — a missionary from heaven to earth, coming 
to save sinners, and his life aimed at on all sides ! 

Dear children, if I possessed the wealth of the 
world, I could give you nothing more precious than 
a living trust in this Saviour. I can give you no 
knowledge so precious as the fact thai Jesus is here 
to day, with his arms around every one of you. He 
still savs, "Suffer the little children to come unto 
me." The grandest work you can ever do is to 
cheer him by doing good to his little ones here. 
This child had played around his mother's knees 
perhaps two years. She knew what greatness 
meant. Her infant's cry had been a prayer of 
supplication, calling her to a life of better things. 
His smife was a thanksgiving. While father was 
struggling after greatness, it was in his home — his 
wife's arms — personified in his own lovely boy. 

Now, dear children, though Jesus is not on earth, 
wrapped in humanity, that our coarse, material 
eyes may behold him, his Spirit is with us still. 
You can comfort him now. He still lays his un- 
seen hand in felt blessings on your heads. His 
poor are with us still — his afflicted, his blind, deaf, 
dumb^ lame, ignorant — and he still says, "Inas- 
much as ve have done it unto one of the least of 
16 



242 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
Whenever we put our arms around his afflicted 
ones here, we put them around him. The kindly 
act is recorded in indelible characters on the pages 
of our life-history, to be unfolded in eternity. The 
world is a vast lake, with two circles — as we en- 
large one, we necessarily contract the other. Let 
us enlarge the circle for good, and contract the 
evil. Will you do it? - 




LITTLE CHILDREN. 



"Then were there brought unto him little children, that 
he should put his hands on them, and pray ; and the disciples 
rebuked them. Bat Jesus said. Suffer little children, and 
forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the king- 
dom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and de- 
parted thence." Matt. xix. 13-15. "And they brought 
young children to him, that he should touch them; and 
his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when 
Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, 
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto 
you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as 
a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took 
them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed 
them." Mark x. 13-16. "And they brought unto him 
also infants, that he would touch them; but when his dis- 
ciples saw it, they rebuked tliem. But Jesus called them 
unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, 
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. 
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the 
kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter 
therein." Luke xviii. 15-17. 

JESUS, in his human career of thirty -three 
years, never said an unnecessary word, or did 
an unnecessary act. I suppose too that every pain 

(243) 



244 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

that racked his human body, or pierced his divine 
soul, and every drop of blood shed, were necessary 
for our salvation. This gospel-truth stands like a 
dark, cold rock, in the midst of a stormy ocean. 
In view of it, what a stern, forbidding man Jesus 
must have been ! none of those indescribable graces 
and beauties that go into the make-up of a grand 
character ; no loving smiles, no graceful motions, 
no caresses — nothing but necessary acts. What an 
unlovely picture of that Being who was the very 
crystallized essence of love! 

Let us, before judging too hastily, stop and ask 
ourselves the question. What is necessary to us, as 
threefold beings, composed of body, mind, and 
spirit — allied, on the one hand, to the lowest forms 
of animal life — on the other, passing the angelic 
hosts, we claim relationship to the God whose breath 
constitutes our souls? A very little will suffice for 
the body, but there is the soul-hunger, the mind- 
thirst, to be satisfied. If the body wants, bread, it 
must have it, or perish. The soul has its great 
want — love — which is of far more importance than 
mere physical desires. 

Like vines of living green clinging to the des- 
olate rock come these words : " Then were there 
brought unto him little children, that he should 
put his hands on them, and pray." "And his dis- 
ciples rebuked those that brought them. But when 



LITTLE CHILDREN. 245 

Jesus saw it [the disciples rebuking the mothers], 
he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer 
the little children to come unto me, and forbid^ 
them not." "And he took them up in his arms, 
put his hands upon them, and blessed them," say- 
ing, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." Then, 
turning to the mothers and disciples, he said, " Who- 
soever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a 
little child, he shall not* enter therein." 

Jesus had been in Galilee, and was on his way 
to Jerusalem to be crucified, and, naturally, he felt 
depressed in spirit. He was a man w^ith soft, ten- 
der flesh, red blood flowing through his sinless 
veins, and a nervous system, as keenly alive to 
pain as any man. Great multitudes followed him 
as he went, preaching, healing the sick, performing 
miracles, and patiently answering the impertinent 
questions of his enemies. At the time this beauti- 
ful little incident occurred, he was in Judea, near 
the river Jordan, and the mothers came around 
him — not to ask hard questions, or desire high 
places for their husbands — not to have diseases 
healed, but for a noble object — that they might 
show their love for him, by bringing their little 
ones to be touched. They felt that there was some 
great virtue in those hands that had done so much 
for others — so little for himself. They came, forc- 
ing their way through the crowd, with their babies 



246 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

in their arms, some leading theirs, some handing 
others over the heads of the people to friends, in 
order to get near him. What an important cere- 
mony that was to these affectionate women ! And 
to Jesus it was more important still — one of the 
actual necessities of the divine man, without which 
(lis humanity might have given way in Gethsemane, 
the spot that lay just before him in the near future. 
In this immense throng there were blue-eyed ba- 
bies, black -eyed babies, babies with brown eyes, 
golden-haired, red-haired, and some with no hair at 
all — indeed, there never was such a baby-show: 
one single man for an audience; a committee of 
one^ to bestow rewards; and every child received 
a premium — not a medal of silver — ah! no; and 
not for beauty, but because the women loved this 
holy man, and brought their jewels to be touched 
by him. Every mother was perfectly convinced 
that hers was the sweetest, prettiest, sm^artest, little 
dimpled darling that ever put a toe in its mouth, 
or laughed at the angels. I certainly agree with 
the mothers — all were the prettiest. O the conceit 
of mothers! How charmingly silly it is to bring 
their little ones to a man who was turning the 
world upside down with his wonders! What van- 
ity to suppose that he will have time for a passing 
glance at your little ones ! 

The disciples, feeling a kind of ownership in Ja^ 



LITTLE CHILDREN. 247 

sus, were doing what they considered their duty 
when they tried to send the'women away. Jesus 
is too great to notice such tiny specimens of hu- 
manity, say they. Ah ! how little they understood 
the man! How entirely had they failed to appre- 
ciate the depth of tenderness underneath that placid 
exterior ! How little they understood the hunger 
of soul, the heart- weariness, of the Saviour ! Now, 
the little ones — the only beings who were not sep- 
arated from him by a great gulf of sin, not yet 
bridged over by the sacrifice of himself — were to 
be driven away by the disciples, his ovm dear 
friends. No wonder Jesus was much displeased, 
and rebuked them sharply. I imagine, in his re- 
buke, he did not say, gently, " Peter, you are too 
harsh with these little ones — let them come." At 
one time he said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, 
Satan," when his displeasure was not so great. So 
he must, in this instance, have used a few sharj), 
well-chosen words ; then, turning, with a smile, said, 
SuflTer them to come. Yea, these little ones — so 
pure and fresh from the molding-hand of the Fa- 
ther, wdth the very finger-prints of creative love in 
every dimple and every sparkle of the eye — in 
every motion of their little forms — reminding him 
of heaven. Had he not left thousands of children 
standing around the sapphire throne of God, in 
heaven, in the radiance of the rainbows, singing. 



248 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

"Glory be to God on high?" Indeed, all the in- 
habitants of that beautiful land were infants in 
love, purity, and trustfulness — all had been washed 
in tlie cleansing blood. Then they suffered them ; 
and he took the little ones in his arms, and blessed 
them. Yes ; Immanuel, the omnipotent God, could 
speak into existence a universe, and take an infant 
in his arms with equal grandeur. 

This beautiful little incident was as necessary in 
his short, successful, earthly career, as the estab- 
lishing of his Church. It was necessary for a per- 
fect man, in all the weakness of humanity, to man- 
ifest loving feelings — yea, God, to be perfect God, 
must be love manifested. He must stoop to caress an 
infant as well as be brave and patient to endure 
the agonies of a cross. I dare say this short inter- 
view with the babies was a source of strength to 
him in the hour of agony and weakness so soon to 
come. When the great black tide of human sin 
was rolling in overwhelming power over his soul in 
Gethsemane, and he looked forward a few hours, 
and saw Peter denying, Thomas doubting, Judas 
betraying, and all twelve forsaking him, he thought, 
with a thrill of joy, of these little ones — one drop 
of sweet in the otherwise infinitely bitter cup of 
the Father's wrath. Yes, it was necessary for Je- 
sus to have their little arms cling to him, their 
bright eyes look into his. I see those devoted 



LITTLE CHILDREN. 249 

mothers, with their little ones leaping with a crow 
of delight into the arms of the stranger. Some 
little mouths are ready for a kiss, fingers catch at 
his hair and beard; some cling lovingly to his 
neck, and cry only when taken aw?ty. All the en- 
chantments of all the magicians that ever existed 
— all the wonders of fairy-land combined — cannot 
equal the enchantments that this holy man exer- 
cised over hearts not incrusted in selfishness. 

I am not surprised that ancient artists have 
painted Jesus with a halo of glory around his 
head. I should have put the halo all around the 
loved form, and a little on every one who loved 
and trusted him. That halo is a reality. After 
all, no man ever yet discovered truth who had no 
imagination. Call the halo what you will — influ- 
ence, animal magnetism, or spiritualism, if you 
please — the power of drawing goodness and purity 
to himself was there; and to us, who are his chil 
dren, he has delegated that power in proportion to 
our love for him. "He that believeth on me, the 
w^orks that I do shall he do also ; and greater works 
than these shall he do, because I go unto my Fa- 
ther.'^ 

Then, mothers, bring your little ones to Him 
now. Never mind the rebukes of the disciples — 
they have always tried to keep them away, and it 
may be they always will, though I hope not. Many 



21)0 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

a little child would be a Christian, but for the want 
of encouragement from preachers, the rebuking dis- 
ciples. Thank God ! the day seems to be dawning 
when they will "suffer them." Jesus still holds 
out his arms, and says. Let them come; and the 
little ones will gladly answer the call. Dear moth- 
ers, dear disciples, let us not keep them away — 
that is meaner than the Pharisees were doing ; they 
never forbade their going to Jesus. Dear cliildren, 
come now ; that is the only place of safety for time 
and eternity. Unless we older ones become as lit- 
tle children, we shall not even see the kingdom of 
God. Teachers, let us bring the children, that he 
Diiu^ put his hands on them. Let us bring them 
h^ jur prayers, love, and holy example. 



RHODA. 



" Constantly affirming." 

THE wicked King Herod imprisoned many of 
the followers of the Lord Jesus, and among 
them the brave, impetuous Peter. The infant 
Church, feeling that "vain is the help of man," 
and not knowing how to trust God perfectly, was 
in despair. Now that their " great battle-ax '' was 
broken, what could they do? They could not real- 
ize that this apparent cross was only a crown ob- 
scured by human malice and their own blind unbe- 
lief. In their sorrow, they met in little companies 
at private houses to pray for him ; and while at 
their daily employments, though separate in body, 
their united spirits were constantly sending up a 
stream of supplication to the mercy-seat. Peter 
too prayed earnestly ; and one night, while lying 
between two armed soldiers, chained by the wrists 
and ankles, praying to God, he suddenly saw a 
bright light flash into his dungeon, filling the room 
with dazzling brilliancy. Before the astonished 
Peter had time to collect his scattered thoughts, he 
felt a touch on his side — a gentle touch, but decided. 

(251) 



252 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

full of strength, tenderness, and meaning — a touch 
that sent every drop of blood tinglmg and dancing 
through his veins with a rapture hitherto unknown 
in his experience. He looked up, and a form of 
surpassing beauty burst on his astonished vision. 
A voice like the far-away murmur of the music of 
the spheres said, "Arise up quickly." The strong 
iron chains fell from his swollen limbs to the floor, 
noiselessly, "Gird thyself, and bind on thy san- 
dals ; cast thy garment about thee, and follow me." 
Peter, feeling like one in a dream, did as he was 
commanded by the angel, and together they walked 
on in the silence and darkness of the night, until 
they reached the outer gate of the city. At the 
presence of the shining one, it fell open of its own 
accord, and they passed out. Even so do the 
shackles of sin fall from the bound soul, when 
touched by the omnipotent blood of Jesus, the Son 
of God. 

Not until the departure of the heavenly messen- 
ger, leaving him alone in the darkness, did Peter 
really know that God had sent his holy angel to 
deliver him from prison. When left to himself, he 
began to consider what to do, and concluded to go 

'to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. 

IHc wandered on in the darkness, scarcely realizing 
which way he was going — hungry, futigued, wrists 
and ankles bleeding from the rubbing of the chains, 



RHODA. 253 

heart aching for the murdered James, in doubt 
about the safety of the Church, the words of the 
Lord — *^ Feed my sheep " — ringing in his ears. 

Arriving at the door, almost ready to faint from 
exhaustion, he tapped gently. No one heard him. 
Again, a little louder — again and again, each time 
more eagerly, he rapped. Why are those people 
so deaf all at once? They are his friends — their 
whole souls are going up to God in his behalf. He 
knows that warmth and good cheer are within, 
behind those closely-barred doors. O if he could 
only make them hear him! As we read on, the 
mystery is explained — they were praying for Peter 
so intently that they failed to watch for the answer. 
When earnest souls are mounting the golden rounds 
of the ladder of prayer up to God, they become 
strangely deaf to earthly sounds. Finally, a dam* 
sel named Rhoda came to hearken. She may have 
been a little servant-girl in the family — she may 
have been a daughter in the house, or a guest— 
whoever she was, she knew and loved Peter, and, 
while others prayed, Rhoda watched and listened. 
O Christian girls, form a habit of listening to 
hear God's voice in your soul answering your pe- 
titions ! 

Knowing his voice, she left him knocking, rushed 
into the room, spoiled the prayer-meeting, and told 
the glad news — Peter is at the gate ! They were 



254 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

asking God to release him, and, now that he an* 
swered their prayers, they were so astonished that 
they forgot the meeting, and the tired, hungry apos- 
tle they let knock, while little Ehoda kept on tell- 
ing them "that it was even so." They denied, 
and "she constantly affirmed that it was even so." 
"Why, Ehoda, you are mad; Peter is in prison, I 
tell you — how could he get out? These are peril- 
ous times. Child, you must not interrupt the meet- 
ing in this way." "He is there, I tell you," said 
the little child. " God has heard our prayers, and 
released him. The rest of you were so busy that 
you failed to hear him knocking." "But how 
could he get out of prison?" "I don't know," 
said Ehoda, " only he is there." Finally, convinced 
that God had answered their prayers without faith 
(if we except little Ehoda's), they went to the door, 
brought him in, and listened to the story of his 
mysterious release. 

Little girls, take the sermon Ehoda preaches 
right into your hearts — remember to watch as she 
did ; and when you know a thing is entirely true, 
keep " constantly affirming that it is even so." Let 
nothing cause you to waver in proclaiming truth — 
on the play-ground, in the class-room, wherever 
you go — for, young as you are, you have in your 
hearts a clear knowledge of truth that Plato would 
have died to u^^^^tftin. Even little Cora knows that 



RHODA. 255 

Jesiis loved her, and he is God, her Saviour ; and that 
faith, blossoming out into a holy life, is all there is 
of salvation. Ehoda's example, however, will not 
all do for you. She left Peter at the gate, knock- 
ing away clamorously, while she ran in, upset the 
prayer-meeting, and listened to the unbelief of the 
very persons who were praying for him. Blessed 
Rhoda ! your biography was written in a very few 
words ; but you were brave and true, or you never 
could have appreciated that grand old apostle so 
much as to cause you to raise such a commotion, 
and spoil a nice prayer-meeting, with your " con- 
stantly affirming." 

Who are you, little Rhoda? Who was your fa- 
ther? What a good woman your mother must 
have been, to train such an energetic, earnest little 
soul as you ! Ah ! these are questions that will re- 
main unanswered until we meet you in that world 
where there will be no need to constantly affirm a 
happy truth — where no one will say, "Rboi^a, you 
are mad." In the jasper-walled city ther'? will be 
no tired apostles knocking at the gates of pear], 
shivering with fear and cold. There will be no 
interrupted prayer-meetings, because every heart- 
beat will be a prayer for more knowledge 0/ God, 
and a thanksgiving to him who loved us, and gave 
himself for us. 

That every little girl who reads this may be a 



256 



CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 



little Rhoda, constantly affirming happy truths; 
that the boys may be, not like Peter, shivering at 
the gate, waiting for Ehoda to let him in, but, like 
Peter, in power and earnestness, proclaiming peace, 
k the prayer of their loving friend. 




TIMOTHY, 



"And that from a child thou hast known the holy Script- 
ures." 

TIMOTHY, or Timotheus, was born in the city 
of Derbe. His mother, Eunice, was a Jew- 
ess — his father a Greek, name unknown. He lived 
when Nero was Emperor of Rome. His mother 
and grandmother, Lois, were eminently pious, con- 
sequently little Timothy, at a very early age, was 
instructed in the doctrines of Judaism, and under- 
stood all their rites and ceremonies. Almost from 
his infancy he knew the Holy Scriptures, and was 
looking in cheerful hope to the coming Christ. He 
saw him typified in the passover-lamb. He knew 
that God had flamed in the Shekinah on the altar. 
Among the first words his infant lips lisped were 
the names of God. 

While still quite young, Timothy heard Paul 
preach, and, as he listened to the matchless logic, 
close reasoning, and heart-stirring eloquence, of the 
great missionary, as he held up the crucified Lord, 
the boy felt that it was true. The Holy Spirit 
attended the words, and, before that sermon was 
17 (257) 



258 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

completed, Paul had won a star to sparkle in his 
eternal crown of rejoicing in heaven. God had 
taken away the yearning, hungry feeling from his 
heart, and planted a sweet peace, a deep-seated joy, 
a positive certainty that the Jesus Paul preached 
was the Messiah whom he was expecting — that he 
had come, suffered, died, and rose again, for his 
justification. How easy it is for a well-instructed 
mind and heart to receive Jesus as the Son of God ! 
From this time forward Paul, who had made in- 
quiries concerning Timothy's previous life, and 
found that he was a valuable acquisition to the- 
Church of Derbe, possessed a strong affection for 
the young man. For fear of being a stumbling- 
block in the way of the Jewish converts, Paul cir- 
cumcised him. He may have baptized him after- 
ward, but the Bible does not say so. Surely, if 
baptism is a saving ordinance, instead of an out- 
ward sign of an inward purification, the inspired 
writers would have given a detailed account of 
somebody's "burial with Christ in baptism." I 
teach water -baptism with all my heart, but, if 
Christian love and principle are to be sacrificed 
for it, then let the water go. Too many of us are 
inclined to pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, 
while we neglect the weightier matters of the law 
—justice, mercy, love, and truth. 

Timothy was a young man of strong faith in 



TmoTHT. 259 

God. This faith was increased by the laying on 
of Paul's hands. There was no more virtue in the 
touch of Paul than in that of the humblest child 
of faith ; but have we not all realized, hundreds 
of times, the power of Christian fellowship, ex- 
pressing itself in the grasp of the hands, words, 
love, and faith? It is the touch of the heart that 
beats with love that thrills. Have we not looked 
in faces so cold and forbidding that we experienced 
feelings of aversion in our hearts ere a word had 
been spoken? ^ 

An old lady and her little granddaughter, aged 
four years, once saw a woman on a car whose ap- 
pearance was so repulsive that the child said, " O 
grandma! what was the matter with that lady? 
She looked just so," screwing her little face into a 
thousand wrinkles. Her grandma said, " She had 
a bad temper, and it showed itself in her face. If 
you frown at everybody, you will look that way 
too." For months afterward, and even now, al- 
though three or four years have elapsed, if the lit- 
tle one is inclined to be cross, grandma says, " Now 
you look like the woman in the car," and she smiles 
instantly. 

Cultivate love for all in the heart. Love is a 
hardy plant, and will grow rapidly if cared foi 
properly, and the fruits of it are well worth gath- 
ering* By and by the face will show that the 



260 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

plant is in the heart, and even wrinkles and de- 
formity will be illuminated and beautified. We 
know that there are little particles emanating from 
the violet that aflTect us pleasantly. A mocking- 
bird sings, and it makes us happy. Around a 
real, spiritually, live ChristiaUy there is a halo of 
glory which we can neither see nor describe. Virt- 
ue went out of Jesus and healed a diseased woman. 
O Christian! live close to Jesus, and virtue from 
him will pass through you, and fall in soul-saving 
power on those around you. There are only two 
influences — the good and the evil. If you are not 
inhaling from God in your life, and exhaling, in 
words and deeds, the good, you certainly are in- 
haling the bad, from the enemy of God. If the 
pages of your life-history are not beautifully writ- 
ten, elegantly illustrated, sparkling with great prin- 
ciples nobly adhered to, moral battles fought, and 
victories won, then the pages will certainly be 
marred, blotted, and unfit to be read before that 
great congregation, composed of Moses, Elijah, 
David, Paul, Mary, Eunice, Esther, and Kuth, and 
your own unforgotten loved ones, for all will be 
there — all interested in the reading of your life- 
history. 

Timothy, after his conversion, took an active part 
in every thing that concerned the early Church. 
He remained with Paul at Athens, Eome, Derbe, 



TIMOTHY. 261 

Pliilippi, and Berea. How beautiful this friend- 
ship between the strong, stern, active, educated, old 
man, and the delicate, gentle boy! Timothy soft- 
ening and toning down the stern virtue of the fa- 
therly friend, while he, in return, received strength, 
support, and wisdom. He was with Paul when he 
shook his garments, declaring he would never again 
preach to the Jews, but would hencefortli give him- 
self to the Gentiles. In several of Paul's letters 
Timothy sends greeting to the Churches. Timo- 
thy's life was a busy one all through; though 
young, delicate, and suffering much, he has exerted 
an influence almost equal with Paul's. Had he 
never been bishop, his life would have been a grand 
one. Poor, suffering boy ! " How do you know he 
suffered?" says one. Because Paul, the temper- 
ance-lecturer of his day, says, "Drink no longer 
water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, 
and thine often infirmities ; " and he never would 
have given such advice to a young man whom he 
so dearly loved had it not been necessary, 

Paul wrote two letters to Timothy while he was 
pastor of the Church at Ephesus, which are in the 
Bible ; and no man ever wrote more beautiful love- 
letters to his betrothed than did this old, gray- 
haired, world-weary apostle. I do think Paul was 
the grandest man of his day. The only thing I 
ever regretted about him was that he had no wife 



262 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

and children to tone down the stern rigidity of his 
many virtues. This boy, Timothy, seems to have 
absorbed all the love of his heart. The advice he 
gives Timothy while presiding over the Church, so 
fresh and warm from his great, honest heart, is ad- 
vice for every preacher all through the ages, till 
the end of time. How he enters into all the de- 
tails — advises faithfulness, watchfulness, reminds 
him that the eyes of the world were upon him, and 
to watch over his people ! How gently he reminds 
him of his mother and grandmother! How ear- 
nest in his warnings ! O Timothy ! save the souls 
of your people! Timothy could not save a soul. 
Of course not; but the humblest, most ignorant 
Christian, can live in such a way as "to adorn the 
doctrines of Christianity," that others, seeing their 
good works, may be constrained to glorify his Fa- 
ther in heaven. Any one can throw around an- 
other influences that will lead him to Jesus, then 
pray, and God will pardon. Example, advice, kind 
words, loving smiles, and fervent, continued prayer, 
are the influences sanctified by God for the salva- 
tion of the world. Paul said to Timothy, "Let no 
man despise thy youth" — as much as to say, the 
people, being older than their pastor, would not 
feel sufficient respect for him. And be careful 
about your health — it is one of God's good gifts, 
for which he will hold you responsible. 



TIMOTHY. 263 

How very important for ideas of God and heaven 
to be the first ones planted in the virgin soil of the 
soul! Some children can remember very far back 
in infancy, and then their little minds were so busj 
wondering ! Was ever a child too young to won- 
der? This disposition, implanted by God himself, 
is a noble one, and should be cultivated, and di- 
rected in the proper channel. Children sometimes 
ask if the stars are God's eyes, an.d are laughed at 
for their folly by a more foolish mother. They 
ask how trees grow, and are told to hush. By and 
by, when they learn to read, and catch a glimpse 
here and there of some great truth, and inquire 
about it, they are turned carelessly away. Not so 
did little Timothy's mother. The first tottering 
steps he made were in the direction of heaven. 
Into his little heart, at the sacred hour of twilight, 
as she rocked him to sleep, she told the old, old 
story of her people, then pointed forward to a great 
King they were going to have, which would eclipse 
David and Solomon in the glory and majesty of 
his reign. He was to descend from Judah's royal 
line. Hannah's song of rejoicing, and Miriam's 
perhaps, lulled his childish eyes to slumber many 
times. 

While still quite young, having been faithful in 
the ministry, and done Paul much good service, he 
was made bishop of the Church at Ephesus. This 



264 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

magnificent city, now in ruins, was the seat of one 
of the first seven Churches of Asia. It was here 
that the goddess Diana had a temple that was two 
hundred years in the building. It was here that 
the uproar was made, when Paul preached Jesus, 
by Demetrius. He manufactured little silver im- 
ages of the goddess, and, finding his craft endan- 
gered, they made quite an uproar, which would 
have been serious but for the wisdom of the town- 
clerk. Here some sorcerers and magicians were 
converted under Paul's preaching, and brought 
their books on divination and burnt them in the 
street. Here too the beloved disciple tarried till 
"Jesus came." Timothy was with him — perhaps 
closed his eyes, and folded his hands, and heard 
the last words of the expiring saint, as he fell 
asleep. 

At the time Timothy took charge of this Church, 
it was full of strife, envying, and quarreling. Yes, 
the early Church, one of the first seven, was full 
of dissensions, almost before the blood of Calvary 
was dried. It was composed of fallible men and 
women, like us — had a sinner, saved by grace di- 
vine, for a pastor — all sinners, saved by the blood 
of Jesus, but falling back into sin, because they 
forgot that the love, faith, and grace, of yesterday 
will not suffice for to-day. We are progressive 
creatures, and need constant supplies. The grow- 



TIMOTHY. 265 

ing child finds its last year's garments too small. 
So with a growing Christian : works that required 
60 much patience and strength last year were very 
well then, but will not do now. We cannot slake 
our spiritual thirst at earthly cisterns — we must 
drink at perennial fountains, even the river of life. 
We have in our possession the key that unlocks 
the store-house of God's rich bounty, if we only 
use it. Faith in the atoning merits of Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God, will bring us every thing. Do n't 
let the key get rusty for want of use. 

What a time Timothy had with those people! 
There was A, who found fault with the people be- 
cause they were not like him — were not convert- 
ed right — because they did not speak with other 
tongues, as on the day of Pentecost. There was 
B, who was so liberal — gave so much for the sup- 
port of the gospel, and quarreled because others 
did not ; C, who was rich, and snubbed poor people ; 
D, who was poor, and envied C. There were those 
who talked too much, and those who talked too lit- 
tle. The learned ones were pufied up with their 
wisdom. The ignorant man was "as good as any- 
body, if he didn't have no book - larnin'." Then 
all found fault with the preacher — he was too 
young — they did not want a boy over them. Why 
could they not have Paul or ApoUos — any one but 
Timothy f 



266 CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE. 

I see, in my imagination (I wish it was only im- 
agination), this infant Church, with its strifes and 
contentions — the body of Christ, with every mem- 
ber warring against the other — the holy dove of 
peace pluming her wings for an everlasting flight, 
,while the youthful minister, almost in despair, is 
■exhorting one, reproving another, entreating others, 
und praying for all. Dear Timothy, you have my 
sympathy ; these trials without, and often infirmi- 
ties within, need something stronger than wine. 
But underneath thee are the everlasting arms-^ 
around thee an innumerable company of angels. 
By faith I see the young man, after one of his toil- 
some days is over, enter his room, feeling so weary 
— longing so earnestly for the rest of heaven. O 
how he longs for his mother, or dear grandmother ! 
^—either of them would be such a comfort. Look- 
ing around indifferently, his eye falls on a roll of 
parchment, compactly written, carefully rolled up. 
Poor, tired boy ! how his pale, sad face glows with 
pleasure as he recognizes the beloved handwriting! 
He opens it, and reads, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus 
Christ by the will of God, according to the prom- 
ise of life, which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, 
my dearly-beloved son," etc. See how his young 
face brightens as he reads on, feeling the truth in 
every word. O how he enjoyed the strong affection, 
good advice, warning, sympathy, and encourage- 



TIMOTHY. 267 

ment! How he is buoyed up by the confidence 
Paul has in his Christian character! What a 
sanctifying feeling friendship is! especially when 
we are united in its holy bonds for eternity. We 
double our interests,' confirm our hopes and aspira- 
tions, as we gather around us congenial spirits. No* 
doubt Timothy carried Paul's letters with him for 
weeks, prayed, wept over them, and imbibed their 
heavenly sentiments in his heart. His sinking 
faith was stirred up by these letters— golden links' 
between their hearts — his love grew warmer, his^ 
patience was increased, his prayers were more ear- 
nest. Timothy was anxious about Paul, as he lived- 
in daily expectation of martyrdom. But this little 
Church prayed, and their prayers, like silver lines' 
from each heart, shimmering in the sunbeams, min- 
gle into one, are caught up by the angel of Geth- 
semane, sprinkled with blood from the chalice of 
the Atonement, become rainbow - tinted, and are 
laid, a solid mass of holy desire, at the foot of the 
sapphire throne of God, there to be answered ac- 
cording to his own will, and the eternal interests 
of his ransomed ones. 



GLOSSAEY. 



Aarorij mountaineer, enlightened. '] 

Abijah, will of Jehovah. ! 
Ahinadaby a father, princely, noble. 
Abraham, father of a multitude. ^ 

Adam, earth. 1 

AhaZy possessor. ^ 
Ahaziahy whom Jehovah sustains. 

Ahijahy friend of Jehovah. \ 

AmoUy multitude, or architect. | 

Amramy people of the exalted. | 
AnaniaSy Jehovah is gracious. 
ApocalypsCy the Eevelation of St. John, 

ApoUoSy belonging to Apollo. ] 
ArchelauSy ruler of the people. 

Athaliahy whom Jehovah afflicts. j 

Athens, the capital of Greece. \ 

Aionementy agreement. \ 

Baal, the god of the Canaanites. ] 

Bathsheba, daughter of an oath, or daughter of seven. \ 

Benjamin, son of the right-hand (a disputed point among , 

commentators). | 

Berea, a city of Greece. ' 

Bethlehem, house of bread. j 

BUhahi o^^ ^f Jacob's wives, j 

(268) 



GLOSSARY. 269 

Colvaryj place of a skull. 

Canaan^ to be low. 

CapemauTriy valley of consolation. 

Cherithf of the cut, or gorge. 

Cilicia, a country of Asia Minor. 

Davidy beloved. 

Decalogue^ the Ten Commandments. 

DerhCy a city of Lyconia. 

Diana, the name of a Greek goddess. 

Dives, a rich man. 

Dothan, two wells. 

Egypt, a country in Africa. 

Eli, ascent, elevation, highest. 

Eliab, God is father. 

Elijah, God, Jehovah. 

Elisha, God is salvation, or he who saves 

Elkanah, God creates. 

Enoch, initiated, teaching. 

Ephesus, a city in Asia Minor. 

Esau, hairy, rough. 

Esther, the planet Venus. 

Exodus, going out, the second book of the Bible 

Galatians, people of Galatia. 

Galilee, a circle. 

Gath, a wine-press, city of the Philistines. 

Gehazi, valley of vision. 

Genesis, creation, first book in the Bible. 

Gentiles, foreigners. 

Gethsemane, olive-press. 

Gilboa, bubbling fountain. 

Goliath, splendor, brilliant. 

Hagar^ flight. 



27tf 



aLOSSARY. 



Hannah J grace, or prayer. 

Herod, a wicked king of Judea. 

Hilkiah, the Lord is my portion. 

Isaac, laughter. 

fsaiah, Jehovah's help, or salvatioiL 

Ishmael, whom God hears. 

Israel, prevailer. 

Jacob, supplanter. 

J aims, a ruler of a synagogue. 

James, the name of John's brother. 

Jedidah, darling, only one. ^^ 

Jerusalem, the chief city of the Jews. 

Jesse, strong. 

Jesus, just, saviour. 

Jethro, pre-eminence, superiority. 

Joash, to whom Jehovah hastens. 

Job, persecuted, afflicted. 

Jochebed, whose glory is Jehovah. 

John, whom Jehovah has graciously given. 

Jonathan, light of Jehovah. 

Jordan, a river of Palestine. 

Joseph, reproach taken away, hope. 

Josiah, Jehovah heals or saves. 

Keturah, incense, the name of Abraham's second wife^ 

Laban, white. 

Lazarus, a poor man carried to Abraham's bosom, 

Leah, wearied. 

Levi, crown, wreath. 

Machir, sold, acquired. 

Mary, bitter. 

Mephibosheth, name of Jonathan's son. 

Kessiah, anointed. 



GLOSSARY. 271 

MidiaUj strife, contention. 

Miriam, rebellion. 

Moloch, your king. 

Moses, drawn. 

Naaman, a leper healed by Elislia. 

Nathan, given of God. 

Nazareth, the home of our Saviour. 

Neho, mountain on which Moses died. 

NerOj emperor of Eome. 

Ninevites, people of Nineveh. 

Patmos, the isle on which John wrote the book of Revel» 

tion. 
Paul, little. 

Pen^ecos^, feast of weeks. 
Peter, rock, stone. 

Pharaoh, a name common to the Egyptian kings 
Philip, a lover of horses. 
Philippi, a Macedonian city. 
Philistines^ wanderers, emigrants. 
Plato, a Greek philosopher. . 
Po^ipAar, belonging to. the sun. 

Protean, changeable, from the god Proteus* . J : : 

Psalms, praises. 

Pyramids, tombs of the Egyptian kings. 
Rachel, a ewe. 

Raphael, a celebrated artist. 
Bebekah, sl cord with a noose, ensnarer, 
Behoboam, enlarger of the people. 
Bemus, twin-brother of Komulus. 
Besurrection, rising from the dead. 
Borne, the capital of the ancient world. 
BomuluSf the first king of Rome. 



2r2 GLOSSARY. 

Reuben, flock of Bel. 

Buth, the grandmother of King David. 

Samuel, asked of God. 

Sarah, a princess, mother of many natiofni. 

Saul, asked for, besought. 

Shaphan, cony. 

Shunammite, native of Shiinem. 

Simeon, hearing, listening. 

Sinai, jagged, full of clefts. 

Solomon, peaceful, pacific. 

Syrophenicia, name of a country. 

Tabor, bright. 

Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. 

Timothy, honoring God. 

Tirzah, delight. 

Tophet, a place abhorred, abomination. 

Uriah, light of Jehovah. 

TJzziah, strength of the Lord. 

Zarephathy smelting-house. 

Zechariah, remembered of Jehovah. 

Zibiah, the name of the mother of King Joash* 

Zidon, fisheries. 



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